The Banks of the River Styx
by More Than I Appear
Summary: SasuNaru, Sasukecentric. Akatsuki finally captures Naruto and Sasuke goes to save him but things go horribly wrong in the process. This is an angsty tale of love and redemption across two worlds.
1. Chapter 1: The Space Between

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto, nor do I make any money from using their likenesses. I do this for pure entertainment only.

Warning: This is a SasuNaru work so that means eventual yoai action. If this offends you at all then please exit this story now though thank you very much for having a look. I will not listen to whining later about offensive content- proceed at your own risk.

**The Banks of the River Styx**

Chapter 1: The Space Between

Sasuke felt himself being jostled lightly back to semi-consciousness, both by the person talking to him in urgent tones and by a sense of movement around him. On his stomach he lay still, too exhausted to move, too exhausted to even _consider_ the possibility of moving.

Whatever he was laying on was soft and vaguely warm, lulling him back into inky blackness where there was no voice telling him to stay awake, where his body didn't hurt, where he didn't have to think about how _off_ everything around him felt.

Something moved inside him, pacing, a half sensed presence shifting around that almost made him want to open his eyes and look down at himself to see what was causing such a sensation.

The key word here was '_almost.'_

He felt himself sigh, only a slight remnant of sound, as he began to drift again. His body became heavy, sensation receding as he sank deeper into the dark. He was dying, this he knew, but Sasuke couldn't scrape together enough emotion to really care anymore.

His life was over but still he felt satisfied, peaceful even. He hadn't been able to achieve his ultimate goal but he had managed to finally fulfill his duty, after several long years of torment and hard training. Even after all that, he hadn't been able to do it alone.

_Damned blonde idiot._ The thought drifted lazily through the dark, dripping with affection. He felt himself try to smile but couldn't make his face move until memory caught up with him, reminding Sasuke once again just how high a price had been paid for defeating Itatchi.

_Naruto..!_ The name echoed inside him, filled with sorrow and sadness, his heart swelling with pain, forcing tears. The emotions gained intensity, binding the Uchiha and the presence inside him closer as both grieved.

There were so many things he had wanted to say, so many things that he had wanted to express but had never known how. His earlier attempts had ended badly, oh so badly, and had driven the blonde away, had driven them apart. And now it was too late to say anything.

It hurt that he would never see his friend again, hurt worst than almost any pain he had ever experienced, right up there with losing his family.

Actually, if the laws of the universe truly wanted to be sadistic, all they would have to do to torture him would be to sit Sasuke down in front of a large TV and replay those two moments on an endless loop for the rest of eternity.

_I miss you…_ Bits and pieces came to him then, making his tears fall faster: flashes of hair the color of the sun, of eyes as blue as a summer sky. Tan skin, a welcoming smile, a mischievous smirk, a thousand other little details that he had never noticed until right then, small idiosyncrasies that were always there, that made Naruto real and vibrant. Some of the images were jumbled, making interpretation difficult, memories he knew were not his own. They added to the whole though, making the Naruto in his mind more life-like, as if Sasuke could reach out and grab hold of his friend if only he could make his stubborn arm, or what was left of it, move.

He felt the thing inside him shift again, settling, mourning. Sasuke supposed that it must be unsettling suddenly having such open space- he had felt the same way about his old house after the Uchiha clan was massacred. There were no seals to contain the beast now and, after all that had transpired, no internal organs to fight with over room, what with Sasuke's splattered on the cave floor somewhere. Dimly, the Uchiha knew he should be bothered by this but, when it feels as if someone had ripped your heart out, when it feels as if your very soul had died, did having or not having internal organs really matter anymore …?

"Hey!" Something grabbed his ankle and tugged, making Sasuke realize that he had passed out for a few seconds. The spurt of adrenaline the surprise managed to produce had little effect on his abused body, and so the feeling of alarm that coursed through him soon faded away, leaving Sasuke back on the fading edge of awareness again.

"…awake!"

The grip on his ankle shifted and soon the Uchiha felt himself being pulled backwards and down off the surface he was sprawled on. Hands grabbed him when enough of his rag-doll like body had been exposed, turned him over onto his back so his head lolled backward and dangled inches above uneven pavement. Sasuke caught glimpses of someone's shins as they carried him, his eye lids pulled open to half-mast by gravity so he couldn't shut them even if he tried.

_I'm coming_. He wasn't sure who the thought was for but it probably had to do with the hallucinations plaguing his mind, distorting and obliterating reality. A smiling blonde idiot was waving at him, beckoning at him to hurry, pointing to something off in the distance that only he could see and obviously wanted to share with Sasuke. It was sunny and warm, the sky overhead the same color as Naruto's beautiful eyes…

Sasuke felt his fingers twitch with the desire to wave back at the golden haired figure, felt a muscle in his leg jump from the urge to run after him.

"No pulse!"

Naruto began to turn, that damnably cute pout on his face. Sasuke thought he heard a vague remark about being a slow poke.

_No! Wait!_ Sasuke tried to call out, to stall the blonde, but could make no sound. _I'm coming! I'm coming, wait! _Desperate, he ran, chasing after his teammate. He ran and forced himself faster, panting breathlessly but unwilling to stop because Naruto was getting further and further away.

"Paddles!"

_Wait!_ Sasuke tried to scream, stumbling but pressing forward, urged on by the large presence suddenly at his side. They both chased after the blonde, calling out, trying to get him to slow down, all to no avail.

_Naruto!_ The Uchiha pumped his legs furiously, putting everything he had into them, going as fast as he could, one hand outstretched to grab his friend while the other hand kept a grip on the faltering presence at his side.

"Clear!"

_Don't leave me behind!_ Sasuke's fingers were out stretched, splayed, frantic to catch in the blonde's sleeve.

"Clear!"

_Don't leave me alone! _An inch more, just and inch…!

"Clear!"

_Let me come with you!_ It came out an agonized howl from his heart. Finally Sasuke's fingers managed to close around Naruto's wrist-

Only to go right through.

Naruto stopped and turned, fixing Sasuke with a sad smile. "You can't come yet." He reached out and laid his hand solidly against Sasuke's chest, ignoring the way the Uchiha was frantically shaking his head.

Sasuke doubled over in pain, fighting not to clutch his chest as something inside it twitched into being. He grabbed at his friend, unwilling to give up just yet. _Take me with you!_ He pleaded silently, looking up into blue, blue eyes, the image of Naruto beginning to blur.

"I can't." The blonde said softly, a hand on the brunette's shoulder as Sasuke dropped to his knees in the grass beneath their feet.

The pain in his chest doubled- quadrupled- when Sasuke heard that and he could not prevent the melancholy smile that graced his features. He understood; where ever Naruto was going, it was not a place for traitors and, as such, Sasuke was not allowed to go there. Sasuke couldn't even ask the blonde to save a place for him since they weren't heading to a mutual destination. No, Sasuke was sure that there was a seat somewhere far warmer with his name on it, situated very close to somebody with a very sharp pitchfork. He had earned such a fate, this he knew, and so the brunette did not bemoan it.

Though accepting it didn't make any of this easier to take since he'd never see Naruto again after this.

_I wanted to tell you!_ He had to hurry, time was running out and Naruto was fading away. _I'm sorry! _There were so many things trying to claw their way out of his throat all at the same time that Sasuke could only butcher them, cobbling the lot into incoherent rambling. _I- Thank you. You saved me. You're my best friend. I..I love you… and I failed you. Again. I'm so sorry._

He sobbed, giving in and clutching his chest as he gasped in pain. He kept his eyes wide, though, taking in Naruto's look of surprise through his tears, trying to keep everything in focus even as it all began to dissolve around him.

Don't go… Sasuke wanted to beg as his eyes unfocused, as his resolve weakened. He reached out blindly, trying one last time to grab hold of the blonde. He knew it was futile but if there was anything he had learned after years of knowing Naruto, it was that nothing was impossible.

He wanted to tell the blonde to stay, to stay with him, to not venture any further into the sunny landscape around them. He wanted to hold the blonde close and never let go because losing the blonde would mean losing what had made life worth living. Sasuke wanted to rage and scream and curse, not stopping until he got his way and Naruto promised to remain with him no matter what!

Even if…

Even if it meant condemning him to an eternity of misery..?

Could Sasuke really do that? Could he live with himself, knowing that his own hands had taken paradise away from the most important person in his life?

_Be happy._ The Uchiha sighed quietly, letting go. Naruto had suffered through enough pain; it was time to let the blonde be happy. Time to put his selfishness aside and grow up. Sasuke had said his peace and that was all he really had wanted, or so he told himself at any rate.

It was the only comfort he could hold onto as his eyes slid shut and lost sight of the blond.

He dreamed, nightmares filled with blood and fire, of being chased and hunted. Sasuke dreamed of Naruto as well, again chasing after his friend but this time never being able to catch him or, worse, catching the blonde only to watch him crumble into dust. He would cry then, sobbing brokenly in grief, suddenly thrown forcibly back into the memories about how this all began.

About a cave filled with shadows and echoing with chanting.

About fire and blood, lots and lots of blood, and losing himself in a rage.

About Naruto's still form on the floor, tied down by chains that cut into the blonde's flesh.

He would whimper then, afraid of facing those images, remembering how he had completely lost control, over the knowledge that in the end he too could reach the same level of insanity that had driven Itatchi to slaughter their family.

It frightened him, what he had been capable of.

Sasuke had enjoyed going on a rampage, he had enjoyed dishing out retribution, had enjoyed the carnage he wreaked while avenging his friend.

Itatchi's death at that point had just been the icing on a horrific cake.

The feel of hot, freshly spilled blood on his hands, of flesh tearing under a demonically powered chidori. Nothing had been able to stand against him and he had laid waste to everything around him, snuffing out lives left and right, reveling in the near ecstatic pleasure coursing through him as he did so. It had fed him, powered him to continue, allowed him to force the very earth around them all to bend to his will. He had never felt so invincible, never felt so powerful.

Sasuke had enjoyed it all and that frightened him to his very core.

And so he ran, caught in the maze of his memories, trapped in a Hellish prison he himself had created. Running away from some memories while running toward others. Running, running, running, always running. Like an endless loop, images played and replayed, good times, bad times, all of it flowing together until it was just one big mess.

Until Sasuke was one big mess; a soul trapped in Purgatory, sentenced to forever wander in limbo until his savior could call him back.

But that wasn't going to happen- would never happen.

Could never happen.

His would-have-been savior lay somewhere beneath a mountain, miles away from the village the blonde had loved so much, hopefully still next to whatever remained of Sasuke's eviscerated form, along side the remains of the organization of Akatsuki. Buried under all that rock, both from the fallen mountain and from the destroyed demon-container statue, it was unlikely their bodies would ever be recovered to be given a proper burial, but leveling everything had been the only way to insure the complete obliteration of Akatsuki.

To protect Konoha as Naruto had always wanted, done with the power the Kyuubi container had always been afraid to harness.

An act of penance, a bid for forgiveness, a step forward toward salvation.

A monument to something, though the Uchiha had no idea as to _what_ exactly…

**_Love..?_** Came the rumbled suggestion from the dark, reminding him that though he thought he was alone in limbo, he in fact was not.

Hearing another voice, assuming it was not a sign of insanity, restored some of the Uchiha's missing clarity and sense of self. It served to stabilize his mind enough so that a semblance of coherency made it through, the awful memories receding.

Of course, that did nothing about the good ones now flooding his addled mind. Immediately he was assaulted with pleasant sensations, with images of his blonde friend, his vision swamped by eyes a peaceful blue.

_Naruto?_ Sasuke asked, reaching out for those memories and holding them close, wrapping himself in them like a blanket. Doing so made the Uchiha able to believe for just a second that his friend was not dead.

For one long, beautiful moment, the blonde was there with him, alive and vibrant again. Made real by a thousand smells and sensations, his voice ringing in Sasuke's ears as Naruto sang out an annoyed greeting. He was _there _in the darkness arms draped around Sasuke's shoulders, warmth radiating into the brunette's back, smelling of sweat and sun. The illusion was so good that the Uchiha could actually _feel_ Naruto cuddle against his body, the blonde once again given form and life. It was wonderful, heart-wrenchingly wonderful, and Sasuke felt tears well in his eyes and flow down his cheeks.

_I love you!_ He sobbed, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes and trying to remain still. He had wanted to tell Naruto for so long, so very long, but he had always held the words in, letting them die in his throat before he could confess.

Naruto's arms tightened around him, pulling him close in an intimate gesture, small nose nudging against Sasuke's ear. Warm breath fanned over Sasuke's neck, lips ghosting over his skin.

_I want this._ Sasuke felt his breath catch in his chest. _I want this but…but…_ He had made up his mind to let Naruto go, to let the blonde be happy and rest after such a life filled with torment. He wanted to keep that resolve.

Hands ran up over his chest, pinning him against the body behind him, not stopping until they made him gasp.

He had made up his _mind…!_ Sasuke bit his lip, fighting a whimper, fighting the urge to give in and fall on the temptation pressing against his back.

Naruto's hands changed tactics; one headed north while the other went south. The blonde began to attack the brunette's neck, little kisses at first them quick nips at Sasuke's skin. The hand on his chest found a nipple and began to tease while the other slid beneath the waistband of the Uchiha's pants.

_No…_ Sasuke's moaned, arching away, trying to untangle himself from the blonde. He had made up his mind, had decided to let Naruto go..!

_Don't make this any harder!_

His heart was not listening, disregarding the decision that had obviously been made without its consent. It smashed his resolve to pieces, grinding it under heel as Naruto's hands worked on his body, eliciting moans and pants. All too soon, the Uchiha was overloaded, drowning in sensations yet starving, demanding more, his body moving of its own accord as he turned around and _tackled_ the blonde.

Sasuke had never been good at resisting temptation. He knew it, his parents had known it, Itatchi had known it. The phrase 'impulse control' had not been added to young Sasuke's vocabulary until around the age of four, much to his father's annoyance: Uchihas were encouraged to perfect emotional control at an early age, and contrary to popular belief, Sasuke Uchiha had not managed to completely master this particular ability. It was why he had to remain emotionally distant; hidden under all those layers of self control was a needy, passionate, and highly emotional Uchiha just waiting to get out.

This Naruto, real or delusion, had set that part of Sasuke free, with complete disregard for the Uchiha's starved libido.

He fell on the blonde like some ravaging beast, forcing the other male backwards onto the floor, their lips pressed ruthlessly against one another's. Hands wrapped around his waist, gripping his hips, fingers splaying over his suddenly over-heated and sensitive flesh, dipping below the waistband of his pants. The sensation triggered years of repressed desire and lust to awaken, bubbling to the surface, spilling out through his lips, and pour into the blonde beneath him. For several long blissful minutes, Sasuke lost himself in that moment, let his hands roam over bronzed skin and blonde hair, the blonde rolling them both to lay on their sides. He felt a tongue tease along his bottom lip, asking silently for permission as a cautious hand dipped deeply into his pants and brushed through warm dark curls. The Uchiha gasped as searching fingers found what they were after, throwing his head back to pant as gentle touches hastened the hardening of his flesh.

The brunette had wanted to do this with the real Naruto. He had fantasized about it, late at night, indulging in his dreams what he couldn't bring himself to do in reality. It happened rarely, and when he did manage to dream about Naruto, he slept well despite the erotic content, as if the blonde's presence acted as a talisman against the nightmares that normally plagued Sasuke's sleep. Such a phenomenon led to other thoughts, like, what would it be like to sleep next to Naruto? How would it feel to cuddle up next to him as he fell asleep, or wrap his arms around him? Would Naruto be warm to the touch? Would he return the embrace?

Sometimes Sasuke didn't dream of anything sexual. Sometimes his fantasies were tame beyond belief, a subconscious bid by his anxious mind for comfort. Some nights he dreamed of simply falling asleep surrounded by his teammate's vibrant body, with tan arms wrapping around his pale form, his nose pressed against warm flesh and filled with Naruto's scent…

…Naruto lay limp in his lap, head lolling bonelessly as Sasuke's sob-wracked body shook them both. The Uchiha had gathered his friend in his arms, hoping to find some trace of life in Naruto. The blonde's body was already cooling, warmth draining away with his blood as the liquid oozed out all over the stone floor and mingled with Sasuke's, adding to the already large puddle. Vacant blue eyes stared up at the Uchiha, unwavering in their accusatory glare no matter how many tears Sasuke shed. The salty drops dripped down over the blonde's whisker marks, trailing away to disappear under his jaw line, clearing away some of the grime from Naruto's now pale cheeks. Awkwardly, ignoring the way his left arm- well what remained of his left arm- refused to facilitate in the action, Sasuke clutched his friend to him, trying to suppress a moan and failing. He bit his bottom lip and pressed his nose into the skin of the blonde's neck, ignoring the smell of death rolling off the body.

All at once, the fires of desire and lust were snuffed out. Sasuke realized he was crying again, resting his head against the fake Naruto's chest, sobbing brokenly. This wasn't real, none of it was real. His Naruto was gone, gone to a place where Sasuke could not follow- had no _right_ to follow. Naruto was dead and this was all a lie, a pathetic attempt at finding comfort and another example of his own weakness.

He withdrew from the blonde and curled up in a ball, hands over his ears, shaking and sobbing. Sasuke didn't have the heart to push the fake away no matter how much pain its continued presence caused him.

_It's not real!_ He reminded himself harshly, heart constricting in his chest. _It's not real! He's dead! I got him killed and he's dead!_

So preoccupied, filled with guilt and grief, the Uchiha paid no attention to the tan arms that wrapped around his huddled frame. He didn't feel the soothing circles being rubbed into his back, didn't feel himself being gathered up and held and pressed against a tan chest.

In his mind he was back with the real, dead, Naruto, clutching the other to his chest, crying for him, heedless of the danger still around him.

He did not feel the warmth radiating off his would-have-been lover.

But he did feel the chill of a blade as it pierced through him, into Naruto's corpse, making him jerk in surprise at finding both it and his body now joined. It speared through him, that absolute coldness creeping inside him, making him shake all the harder. It robbed him of all the warmth generated earlier, took away all that momentary happiness he had deluded himself into enjoying.

It made him feel dead inside and in a some ways, made everything better. Being dead inside meant he didn't have to feel, didn't have to wade through all the emotions he didn't know how to handle. Huddled over himself, trying futilely to protect his already much abused body from any more emotional trauma, Sasuke realized he didn't want to feel anything anymore. All these memories inside his head, all this pain, it was tearing him to shreds! The good, the bad- all of it was destroying him, eating away at his psyche, leaving him a mindless wreck on the floor of his own mind. Already he could feel himself slipping away, gradually being pulled down into darker and darker depths, losing pieces of himself all over the place…

He didn't want to feel anymore because it hurt too much.

Yet it hurt even more not to feel anything.

No matter what you did, one way or another they always got you, coming or going.

Pressed against the chest of what amounted to a doll made in the image of his dead best friend, Sasuke Uchiha lay like a broken toy and wondered if he would be allowed to die any time soon or if he would simply go insane first.

Thank you very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and also that you check back in for the next chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcome.


	2. Chapter 2: Sasuke's Virtue

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters so don't sue me- I'm poor.

Chapter 2: Sasuke's Virtue 

As it turned out, there was a third option left open to the Uchiha. After what felt like three days spent curled up in a fetal ball on the floor in the dark, concentrating on not reliving any more memories, Sasuke felt awareness return to his body.

Little tingles began in his brain as sensory input from his limbs burned through the mental fog the brunette had firmly wrapped himself in. He tried to cling to the darkness but something like a giant paw tore it away. It pushed him out of the shadows, effectively kicking him out of his hiding place, and sent him stumbling on his way into reality. With a sensation akin to rising out of deep water, Sasuke Uchiha returned to the waking world with a startled jerk.

Still mentally muddled, he did nothing but blink up at the ceiling, dark eyes tracing the patterns in the plaster suspended above him. For several moments he just lay passively, eyebrows knitting together when he couldn't completely dispel the sense of confusion plaguing him, though he suspected heavily that the fluid dripping through the IV he spotted installed in his right arm may have something to do with the problem.

Letting his gaze wander, Sasuke noted that he lay reclined on his back with most of his body hidden from view beneath a baby blue blanket. His arms were visible, though, and what wasn't swathed in sterile white gauze was so mottled in blue and yellow bruises that it appeared his skin had somehow managed to acquire a layer of green moss.

With more effort than was pretty, Sasuke turned his head to the left, feeling a slight twinge in the left side of his neck at the action. He concentrated and, fascinated, watched as the fingers of his left hand opened and closed, the skin feeling oddly tight. He let his gaze go lower and found his torso whole under his coverings, the outline clearly marked beneath the fabric.

_Wow._ Sasuke thought, blinking at it all. He had a left arm again. His body was whole, his innards back where they belonged before the explosive tag had nearly blown him in two. He wiggled his feet successfully, counted both complete with five working toes a piece. It was impressive to say the least. _Just… wow._

An amused chuckle rumbled from somewhere deep inside his chest, reminding him that he was not alone in the deserted room. Something large and furry shifted and settled inside him and Sasuke swore he felt fur tease against his ribs. It made him shiver and twitch which resulted in his whole left side aching despite the painkillers in his drip.

Closing his eyes, he rolled his head back to its original position, grimacing in pain. It seemed that one moment of pain had caused a cascade effect and now everything hurt, throbbing and aching, making him shift in an effort to find a comfortable position. He wound up laying on his right side, facing toward the door and panting softly. He was hot and sweating now, adding to his discomfort and making him annoyed with the equipment attached to him.

Aside from the IV and the heart monitor sensors pasted to his chest, there was a tube under his nose. Attached to a green spigot in the wall above the headboard, the plastic tube looped over his ears and under his nose, the air flowing through it tickling his nostrils with maddening persistence and though he wanted to rip the damn thing out since it kept getting caught when he moved, he resisted the urge and left it where it was as he settled again into his pillow.

Eyelids heavy, Sasuke pulled the covers up a bit further, burrowing down into them with a yawn. As he settled down to sleep again- that was something he could never understand; how could he be tired again when he'd done nothing but sleep?- he glanced over the rest of his environment, ninja training automatically noting the exact arrangement of the spare furniture, taking in the look and feel of the room. The chairs near the door were plastic and uncomfortable looking, the room itself small and uninspiring. There were framed pictures on the wall but Sasuke couldn't force his eyes to focus enough to make them out- something floral he was sure since hospitals always favored flowers for some odd reason. The paint on the walls could have been green or grey in the dim light flooding under the closed blinds covering the window behind him.

A hospital room was a hospital room was a hospital room, as far as the Uchiha was concerned and without further ado, let sleep suck him back under.

He dreamed.

He was twelve again, as was Naruto, and they were both laying in a hammock in the shade, lazing the day away. Sasuke was snuggled against the blonde's side, one arm draped possessively across his friend's chest, despite the heat of the afternoon. The rhythmic beating of Naruto's heart under Sasuke's ear was a reassuring sound, mixing with the gentle sounds of water lapping someplace nearby, helping to lull him into a relaxed state. Content and happy, the two rocked from side to side in peace, stirred only by an occasional light breeze. The brunette felt himself sigh and tightened his arms around the blonde, inwardly rejoicing when Naruto did the same with the arm draped around Sasuke's shoulders.

A hand ghosted over then gripped Sasuke's bare thigh, the sensation ruining the peace of the dream. Frowning, the Uchiha reluctantly lifted his head a fraction to see what Naruto was up to, wondering if things were about to take a friskier turn and not entirely happy with the prospect.

Panic shot through the Uchiha as the hand on his thigh began to stroke over his pale skin and a quick glance proved that his companion was not the owner of said hand since Naruto's right hand was clearly resting on the blonde's stomach as he slept.

Sasuke could hear voices now, voices and garbled words that he could make neither heads nor tails out of. But the tones of those voices, the joking comments delivered in voices oozing with malice and desire, those tipped him off about the nature of the conversation taking place above him. He felt his body being manhandled again, his healing shoulder being pulled none too gently until he lay on his back. He felt cool air against his thighs, suggesting that his blankets had been removed during his repositioning. The hand on his thigh moved higher, higher, dangerously close to his groin.

Beside him, Naruto vanished completely, as did everything else, leaving Sasuke sitting in the dark, his pulse thundering in his head. Memories seemed to rise out of the shadows, awful memories that made a grab for him and the Uchiha whimpered as one particularly horrible scene jumped out and touched him just as he felt someone palm his manhood roughly.

He was back in Sound, in his room, on his bed, dressed again in his uniform. And beside the bed, leering openly with hungry eyes as he took in Sasuke's pale form…

Sasuke's eyes snapped open and, faster than anyone could blink, he had broken the wrist of the person groping him. Two quick punches and a kick saw the man sail across the room and hit the wall, sliding unconscious to the floor. More hands touched him, took hold of his left arm, _squeezing _and before he was actually aware of it he had pulled the other person forward into his waiting attack, an open-palm blow that caught the man's chin and knocked his attacker back long enough for him to ram the guy in the diaphragm with an elbow strike. It was hard enough that it drove the man to his knees but before he could disappear from view, Sasuke grabbed him by the hair and drove the man's head in the bed's metal railing, once, twice, three times. His rage spent, Sasuke finally let the limp form fall into a boneless heap on the floor.

The presence inside his chest began to rub itself against his innards like some large cat, emitting a noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr. He realized he was panting and shaking, sitting with his knees drawn up protectively to his chest, hands white-knuckled as they gripped the sheets beneath him. Feeling vulnerable and weak but nearly twitching with anxiety and adrenaline after such an awful awakening, Sasuke slowly swung his legs past the guard rail and over the side of the bed.

(Scene change)

_**We need food. **_

Sasuke absently rubbed his chest and nodded as he responded to the fox's demand. _I know, Kyuubi._ His continued to watch the empty hallway, looking both ways before rounding the corner and moving on.

The first thing Sasuke had done after removing the various items stuck into his body (the IV and Foley catheter- now _that_ had been fun, right up there with pulling teeth- not to mention the leads connecting him to the various machinery around his bed) was tidy up a bit. His teeth felt scummy, his body dirty, especially so after his molestation, and he didn't want to feel either a second longer.

Concentrating on the little details helped him stay calm, prevented him from collapsing to the floor and bawling aloud. He had managed to keep his innocence intact, despite everything that had happened. Sasuke's wish had been to at least be able to keep himself pure in that one respect, to be pure for Naruto if the blonde actually forgave him and willingly began a relationship with the brunette. He had wanted at least this one thing to offer in such a situation, something he only give once, something to give Naruto that would show without a doubt that he cared for the blonde. Something that could convey, implicitly, what Sasuke had been unable to say to Naruto for all those years. An untainted gift because the blond deserved nothing less. The Uchiha had read and researched, becoming discreetly informed as to the mechanics involved, forced to use only his imagination when picturing it all because he refused to indulge in any way. No sex, no touching, nothing but celibacy for Sasuke and all of it for Naruto.

And now some callus pervert had touched him…!

Rationally, he knew that being groped should not be enough of an issue to make him so upset. It had happened and he had punished both those responsible, tying both men up securely with his oxygen line and leaving them in a broom closet across the hall. He was a ninja and occasionally such things happened. It was only a little grope- he hadn't been violated, his virginity was still intact.

That only managed to make him feel marginally better, not that it mattered anymore.

Sasuke had felt his lower lips tremble then, eyes prickling as tears threatened.

_Naruto would have a field day with this._

**_You are going to cut yourself if you don't watch that razor._**

Heeding the fox's advice, Sasuke had finished shaving- an excruciating experience given that the disposable blade he was using was as dull as a dry bar of soap- and brushed his teeth, using the toiletries provided in the tiny bathroom attached to his room. He ran a washcloth over his exposed skin, deciding against a full shower since he doubted he'd be able to redress his wounds himself, not that he knew where the clean bandages were.

When he felt a bit steadier, or at least less shaky, Sasuke left the bathroom and pulled on the only set of clothing he had managed to find, a simple top and bottom set. He flat out refused to put on the gown-like attire he had woken up in, deeming it completely ridiculous and unwilling to submit himself to the humiliation of his ass hanging in the breeze. Whoever had designed the thing must have only been concerned with causing the idiot forced to wear it the greatest amount of pain- why else would the ties be in the back where the wearer couldn't reach them? The thing had gaped completely, showing more than it covered; Sasuke would have felt less exposed wearing women's lingerie. So no; no gown, no way. Being mindful of his injuries, he ha pulled on the navy blue outfit, unhappy with the stiff cloth as it scratched against his skin.

**_So…_** The fox began, effectively bringing Sasuke back to the present. The Uchiha took a moment to catch his breath, leaning against the wall in a darkened corner of yet another non-descript hallway.

_Yes?_ He asked when the mystical being failed to continue, unable to hide his annoyance at both being pestered and having to deal with an aching stitch in his left side.

**_So, you're a virgin?_** The fox asked, an odd note of doubt in its voice.

Sasuke discreetly poked his head out of his hiding place, made sure the coast was clear, and continued on his way. His whole left side was aching, making him slower and noisier than normal. Out of breath, it was doubtful he'd be able to defend himself or even run to get away if the hospital staff found him, and so he was careful as he navigated the endless hallways, skirting open ground.

**_Well?_** The fox prodded again when the Uchiha failed to answer.

_YES!_

_**You've never had sex? Not even once?**_

_No! That's what being a virgin means._ Sasuke growled irritably. He currently had more important things to concentrate on than such an inane conversation, like stopping his stomach from feeling like it was devouring itself.

**_You were, what, saving yourself for Kit?_** There was something in the demon's tone, something Sasuke couldn't identify.

_That was the idea._ Sasuke felt his heart constrict painfully but refused to give into tears.

**_Kit's not here any longer._** Kyuubi reminded him harshly, an unexpected amount of anger in the fox's voice.

Since it wasn't a question, Sasuke didn't bother to answer. He knew Naruto was dead, knew it very well and didn't need to be reminded. He had been there, had looked down into those vacant blue eyes personally, had held Naruto's cold body.

Oh, yes; Sasuke knew Naruto was dead very, very well.

He stopped, staring at nothing as tears suddenly ran down his cheeks, his arms limp at his sides, appetite gone. A clock chimed softly somewhere, echoing down the deserted hallways, adding to the sense of loneliness. A light over head flickered and buzzed before going out completely, plunging the section of hall where he stood into darkness.

It was a perfect metaphor for Sasuke's world if ever there was one.

(Point of view change)

**_Hey?_** Kyuubi said, trying to get his new host's attention. Through the Uchiha's senses, the fox detected the sound of a door opening and shutting not too far away accompanied by the jingle of keys. **_Hey! Get your ass in gear! _**

Sasuke didn't appear to have heard him, didn't appear to have heard anything. He just continued to stand there in the hall and cry silently, painfully obvious and exposed, oblivious to his surroundings. Kyuubi could feel the tumult going on in his host's head, the raging storm of pain and depression, of self-loathing and shame.

It made the brunette as unreachable as the moon, much to the frustration of his parasitic guest. Here they were, about to be discovered, and the bastard was out to lunch! Not for the first time, the fox began to think that all those tales about how smart the Uchiha was were all grossly inflated if not entirely made up. Honestly, what kind of ninja-

…_Naruto's…dead…_ The fox caught the thought, the only coherent thing from Sasuke in several minutes. It sounded like the reality of everything was just setting in though Kyuubi knew this was not the case.

This was just **pathetic**! Grumbling angrily, the fox got to its metaphysical feet, prepared to forcibly take the Uchiha over and send the sniveling human back into some far corner of his body. Stupid humans! Stupid arrogant, greedy, fragile...

… Damnably lovable humans.

Kyuubi imagined Naruto then, the fox smiling in remembered amusement as the twelve year old blonde brazenly demanded the fox's chakra as rent, standing outside the bars and grinning like a mad man with sheer audacity.

At the time, the fox had had no idea how much he would come to love his vessel.

It made Naruto's absence all the more painful to take.

Vindictive as it may be, the demon was glad that Sasuke was suffering as much as he was. In the opinion of the fox, the Uchiha deserved to suffer after all the pain and hardship he had put Naruto through. He had betrayed the blonde, created wounds that none of Kyuubi's chakra had a hope of healing. Simply put, there were no words to describe the damage caused by Sasuke's defection.

But listening to the Uchiha's thoughts, feeling his grief and despair, knowing just how much he had cared for the blonde and how…damaged… Sasuke was with Naruto gone…

As a demon, Kyuubi knew just how sweet revenge could be.

Too bad the fox couldn't seem to draw any pleasure from Sasuke's pain.

It did however receive more than its fair share of puzzlement. The idea that the Uchiha, the man every girl wanted, would willingly remain celibate in the slim hope of a gaining a relationship, with a **male** friend he had betrayed no less, was absolutely laughable. The fox had nearly hurt itself trying not to do so. Thinking that by maintaining his virtue, Sasuke would be able to show Naruto how much he loved him…? What drugs had the idiot been doing while in Sound? Never the less, it was something important for Sasuke, something held so dear that he had become instantly violent to protect it, to protect even the possibility of his innocence being corrupted.

Even after all these years, Kyuubi still didn't understand humans.

Still though, with Naruto gone, who would Sasuke give his virginity to now? Would it be important anymore to the Uchiha?

**_Not the time!_** Kyuubi shook its head to clear its musings. Someone had to do something or else the despondent teen would be discovered, which of course would lead to questions about those missing attendants, which, in turn, would lead to attempts to…contain Sasuke, physically or pharmaceutically.

Neither option sounded viable for the fox; having his host chained to a bed or drooling like an idiot would be completely unacceptable. As damaged and as annoying as the Uchiha was, he was much more fun upright and cognizant.

With a sigh, the demon gathered its chakra and, with a precise strike (something akin to a sledgehammer being brought down on some poor unsuspecting soul and with as much subtly), rose up and ruthlessly suppressed his host's consciousness. Assuming control of the body, Kyuubi began walking again, rounding a nearby corner just as another presence entered the area he had just left. Keeping one step ahead was not going to cut it, not when the footsteps kept coming, actually picking up speed and heading straight for the corner Kyuubi had hidden behind.

There was a door to his right, an emergency door handle in front of it. Kyuubi was familiar with such a set up- Naruto had made a point of going through many similar doors, saying it was part of his pre-training work out. Most times these doors led to stair ways and stairwells, Kyuubi knew thanks to the blonde, made excellent hiding places. Without a second thought, the demon depressed the handlebar as quietly as possible, opening the heavy door wide enough to slip through before shutting it silently behind him.

Vaulting over the stairway railings, Kyuubi headed down as fast and as far as possible.

More's Moment:

Well, that's the end of the second chapter, folks. A very special thank you to all of you who reviewed- reading them motivates me and makes me want to update more. If you are new to the story, please let me know what you think in the form of a review.

Until next time, happy tales.

Does anyone know how to make changes actually change? I'm pulling my hair out trying to make the FF.N editing program do what I want. It hasn't happened yet though which is why I had to actually _put in_ scene change markers. Urg!


	3. Chapter 3: Where the Heart Is

Disclaimer: Standard ones apply.

Chapter 3: Where the Heart Is

The other male would not be swayed no matter how much Sasuke fought. Kicking, squirming, biting- none of it was helping to dislodge his attacker. The large paw against his back pressing his chest into the loamy forest floor held firm despite his protests and efforts. Frustrated, he lashed out with his tails and roared in fury.

The warm lap of a tongue between his back legs made him squawk indignantly. His vocal protests however did nothing to deter the tongue's exploration as it roamed with abandon, tenderly bathing Sasuke's testicles before beginning to probe carefully behind them, nuzzling the soft fur between testes and anus, searching for that certain spot…

As he felt the wet muscle find its goal, penetrating shallowly, Sasuke whimpered. The teasing continued and his attacker grew bold, tongue delving further and further into the tight passage beyond the opening, working to gently stretch both as it thrust into Sasuke's resisting body.

He was panting, whimpering and moaning at the attention being lavished upon him. It was his first time and he was unprepared, unprepared for any of it as the other male's tongue moved within his body, slicking him, preparing him. He was tight, oh so tight, and he could feel every movement within his narrow passage. As the other male slipped from his body, he had sincere doubts about his body's ability to accept the other's arousal but the urge to mate was strong- unshakable- and kept his hips still and high in the air as the other male mounted him.

Sasuke felt himself being stretched cruelly, wide, wider, with no break as his mate slid all the way in. He felt as if he were being speared in half and he bucked, whimpering pitifully, submissively begging the other to withdraw and let him go. But his pleas went unheeded as nine long tails wrapped around him, as teeth gently clamped down on the shallow ruff at the base of his neck. Arms flanked his as the other began to thrust in earnest, forcing the narrow passageway to open as he moved, always pushing deeper, gradually thrusting harder.

Sasuke's pained cries turned to moans of ecstasy as the other male found a spot inside him that radiated pleasure when stroked correctly. Soon his lover was brushing that spot with each pass, racking his body with waves of bliss, forcing Sasuke closer and closer to orgasm, urging him to push back against his mate.

And when the other male climaxed, spilling his seed deep within Sasuke's body, warming the Uchiha's middle with liquid fire, he brought Sasuke with him over that wonderful edge. For a while afterwards, they simply basked where they lay, the other male nearly squashing Sasuke beneath him, not moving until evidence of their mating began to puddle beneath them. Then they moved to a grassier area where Sasuke was licked spotlessly clean by his dutiful mate before the other male's tongue began to wander again.

This time when he was mounted, it was a pain-free coupling and Sasuke was an enthusiastic participant.

* * *

Sasuke woke up extremely disoriented with an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. 

The Uchiha frowned, blinking slowly as he tried to figure out where exactly he had spent the night. He was wrapped in a blanket again, this one patterned with an eye-wrenching design of green, red, gold, and purple. It was absolutely the most hideous piece of fabric he had ever seen but it was soft and felt luxurious against his sensitive skin.

He supposed that, as long as he didn't have to look at it, the blanket could stay and he pulled it higher over his exposed shoulder.

_ Where am I?_ He was laying on a deep burgundy colored couch whose seats were worn from age and use. The cushions reeked from years of disinfectant spray, prodding him to sit up in disgust since it made his lungs and throat burn. Sasuke rubbed his chest absently, wondering how long he had been there for such an ailment to take hold. He looked up, and up and up, forcing his head to tilt backward until it rested on his shoulders, vaguely wondering if he was hallucinating.

Was that a tree in front of him, blocking out the view of the rest of his environment?

**_ I think it's a pine of some sort._** Kyuubi murmured sleepily, shifting position inside the Uchiha's chest. Sasuke had the distinct impression that the fox was rolling over away from him.

_ Why am I behind it and where did you get this blanket? _The Uchiha watched light bloom and disappear within the tree's depths and eyed the numerous glittering colored balls dangling from the thick branches.

With a growl, the demon rolled back over, tails swishing in irritation. **_I took it off a sleeping security guard._** Kyuubi snapped waspishly. **_What's wrong with the tree? I like the tree! Look at all those lights, you little ingrate, aren't they pretty? Aren't those decorations neat?_**

…_Why am I sleeping behind a tree?_ Sasuke felt a vein in his temple throb painfully, a definite warning that he was getting a headache. He pulled the blanket higher, frowning as his body began to ache dully but not in the way he knew it should be. _And why am I buzzed?_

**_ I was having a really good dream._** The fox hissed at him, adding a growl because it knew the reverberations would make its host's headache worse.

_ ... a good… _Sasuke flashed on the dream he had been having, disjointed images and emotions from it making him blush fiercely as they came to mind. With a groan, he made a mental note to check his pants. And the blanket. And the couch. _The TREE…?_

**_ You're supposed to be some fucking genius, you figure it out!_** Kyuubi said scathingly, turning over once again and ignoring Sasuke. Shortly there after, the angry agitated presence in his chest calmed enough to drift back to sleep.

_ Nine-tailed bastard._ The Uchiha frowned and used his right hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes. His left arm below the elbow was cramping, twisting his hand under as the muscles contracted in spasms, forcing his fingers into uselessness. It didn't hurt exactly, just was disturbing as hell to watch and, to distract himself, Sasuke found himself following the fox's advice, watching the blinking lights chase each other around the tree boughs.

He yawned, feeling his jaws crack as he stretched his mouth wide in an effort to increase his oxygen intake and remain alert. The brunette felt his eyelids begin to droop as sleep started to drag him back under, the tree with all its many decorations blurring. He was so tired and Sasuke felt himself getting angry because he felt so weak. He was a ninja, damn it, a ninja in potentially enemy territory as this was definitely not Konoha Hospital- not that he'd be safe there- and certainly not Sound's version of a place of healing- which was a fact that was both comforting and not all at the same time.

The point was that Sasuke Uchiha, known traitor and hunted man, did not know where he was in the slightest. He could not afford to sleep here in the open, couldn't waste his dubious freedom by snoozing it away. In this situation, there were certain protocols to follow: find out where you are, find out if those around you are friend or foe, use both ally and enemy alike to gather information before returning home to give a full report.

_ Home._ He thought with a pang as the image of Naruto, several years younger and what felt like a lifetime ago, flashed through his mind. Home was not where Sasuke grew up, not the place where his clan was slaughtered. It was not in Konoha. It was not in Sound. It was where his heart was and Sasuke's heart had and always would be with Naruto.

_ But he's gone… _Sasuke thought sadly, feeling that bottomless well of grief where his heart used to be begin to overflow and ache. Naruto was dead and had taken Sasuke's heart with him, not that the blonde was in any way at fault.

No, blame was Sasuke's domain, was his sin to bear.

His guilt to be crushed by.

No blonde, no home; it was that simple. If he returned to Konoha, he would be executed as a traitor and he couldn't imagine how much torture he'd be put through especially after he told Tsunade about the circumstances surrounding her 'little brother's' death. And then there was Kyuubi, the demon now snoring away inside Sasuke, and the gods knew how much Konoha _loved_ the fox. The panic that would ensue once people found out about it… Forget being beheaded- Sasuke would be burned at the stake if he wasn't torn to pieces first by a mob of hysterical citizens.

If he went back to Sound, Orochimaru would perform the soul transfer ceremony and everything that was Sasuke Uchiha would wink out of existence the second it was completed. As it was, the snake would get not just a new body, but a demon as well since Kyuubi had seemingly 'jumped ship' after Naruto died. A healthy new body and limitless power, all in one fell swoop. Nothing would be able to stop the madman, not Tsunade, not Jiriya, nothing. Konoha, Sand, all the ninja villages would fall as Orochimaru's armies conquered unopposed. For the safety of everyone, Sasuke could not return to Sound under any circumstances.

Death from both sides, a true 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation.

Suddenly, following protocol did not seem a priority anymore. He had no one to go to now, no one whom he could trust. Naruto, for better or worse, had always been his rock, his anchor, and without his favorite blond idiot Sasuke felt lost and hollow, a ship set adrift in unfamiliar waters with no harbor in sight.

The Uchiha slouched low on the couch, pulling the blanket around him tightly, feeling cold though the air around him was comfortably warm. He was a bundle of conflicting emotions, wanting to both laugh and cry, to scream himself horse and yet stay silent, to run his body to exhaustion and simultaneously curl into a ball. Sasuke wanted to do all these things, to do them all right that instant, to do _something_ at any rate, but he just didn't know where to begin. His heart ached, his body hurt, and his head spun until he was sure he would explode into a thousand pieces.

Uchihas were known for their stoicism and pride, for their arrogance and their legendary blood limit. They were not known for their emotional sides and Sasuke felt like he was going insane as he sat there, unprepared as the maelstrom inside his head built and built, the turmoil threatening to consume him. He didn't know how to deal with it, with any of it, and now that the dam had burst there was no way to contain the resulting flood. Sasuke felt like he was drowning in it all, floundering like some inept water-logged moron, slowly being overwhelmed…

"Take deep breaths!"

**_ What the _fuck _is your problem!?_** Kyuubi roared, enraged.

"Where's your inhaler? Okay here- Why's it empty?"

_** All you ever do is whine! Woe is you, I get it, now shut the hell up because I don't want to hear it!**_

"I'll go find Auntie! She'll know what to do!"

_** Get your head out of your-**_

_ Shut up._ Sasuke commanded, blinking his eyes into focus and rolling his head toward the commotion on his left. He ignored the fox's irate yelling, instead keeping his attention on the two kids near the far end of his couch. One child was blonde and hunched over, little hands holding its throat and panting, while the other child had hair as dark as Sasuke's, hands fluttering anxiously as if unsure what to do. He could tell neither child's gender or age, though he knew he should be able to.

"Stay here!" The brunette of the pair said to the other, guiding its companion from the floor to the end of Sasuke's couch, dark eyes wide. Clearly in a panic, once the blond was situated the dark haired child dashed off around the far side of the tree, disappearing as it sped off for parts unknown.

Sasuke frowned, pushing himself into a sitting position as the blonde began to wheeze loudly. When the child began to clutch its chest, the blanket clad brunette rose from his position and, after a quick check to be sure he was presentable, strode over as fast as his left side would allow. By the time he shambled over, the blonde had already tipped over onto its side, nose pressed to the couch cushions, and Sasuke knew from personal experience that such a position was a bad one.

Completely without thought, the Uchiha reached out and picked the child up, laying the blonde against his chest, letting its head rest on his right shoulder as he pulled a corner of his blanket over it. Pulling on the material for slack, he sat down again on the burgundy cushions, adjusting the child so it would be comfortable. Once both were situated, he set to work on his main concern.

He could feel the child's chest heaving against his own as it gasped for breath. Sasuke wasn't much of a healer but he did know the basics and breathing in such a manner was a good way to pass out quickly. Passing out was always bad, as far as Sasuke was concerned since doing so rendered you vulnerable to enemy ninja. He yanked the child's shirt out of the back of its pants and pushed his hand under it, splaying his fingers over the small spans of skin as he began channeling chakra into his fingers.

Though he wanted to be gentle, he wound up doing quite the opposite. He wasn't sure how, but the child's body was resisting him, making the task more difficult and uncomfortable for them both. Gritting his teeth, the Uchiha gave up on coddling the child and simply _forced_ his chakra inside the small form, pushing the healing energy into where it was needed. He flooded the child's chest cavity with his chakra, quickly found the problem and began directing the energy to fix it.

He rubbed his hand in small circles on the child's back, occasionally giving the area firm thumps with his fingers to help dislodge the excess mucus in the blonde's lungs, and after a few minutes of treatment, the child's breathing began to settle back into a calmer rhythm though with sporadic coughing fits.

"That was really scary." The Uchiha found himself whispering, knowing it was terribly inadequate but saying it anyway since he couldn't think of anything better. He felt the child nod against his neck, little hands clutching his shirt as if he were a lifeline. Sasuke removed his hand and smoothed the child's shirt back into place, resettling the blonde against his chest once more as he felt his left side begin to twitch again.

"Do you feel better now?" He asked, voice rough. He grimaced, hiding his rebelling muscles by awkwardly pulling the blanket up, and slouched down so the child could lay a bit more securely while he stroked his hand tentatively through the downy blonde hair tickling the underside of his chin.

He received another quick nod before the child's shoulders began to shake.

"You can cry, you know." Sasuke offered hesitantly and put a loose arm around the child's waist. He was in a quandary; he didn't want the child to feel trapped but at the same time didn't want to appear as if he were abandoning the youngster. He pried on small hand from his shirt and slipped his fingers into the resulting fist, surprised at the strength he felt as the child accepted the substitute and held on as if for dear life.

"I won't tell anyone." He added as an after thought, as he heard the smothered sobs and felt the effort the child was putting forth to hide the fact that it was upset.

The fact that it was doing so at all after such a frightening event was a bit disconcerting for Sasuke. At a loss, he began rubbing the child's back again in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

**_ Hm,_** the fox said suddenly and Sasuke realized that the demon had stopped speaking a while ago. **_You do bond quickly, don't you? Feeling a bit parental? You do realize that this isn't your kid, right, despite how much he looks like you?_**

_ Shut up._ Sasuke said tiredly, absently rubbing the child's back and cooing encouragements to the blonde as it finally began to cry in earnest. He really didn't want to listen to the fox's snide comments right now… _Wait, what do you mean it looks like me?_

**_ He, not it._** The fox corrected him. **_The other one resembles you more pronouncedly but this one does, too, here and there. _**He felt the beast move again as if it were getting comfortable. **_I thought you said you were a virgin. _**

_ I am. What's your point?_ Sasuke snapped, annoyed at being pestered about something that they had already discussed. He dabbed gently at the child's tears with a scrap of blanket, guided more by instinct than vision.

**_ This kid and the other one look a bit TOO much like you, more so than just coincidence._** There was a nasty note in Kyuubi's tone, something dark and unpleasant that promised pain.

_ I have not been touched by any man..._ Sasuke frowned, not sure where the fox was headed with this. The child quieted, sniffling as it snuggled against him and drifted off to sleep. The result was common after undergoing such healing so Sasuke didn't pay it any mind as he listened to the demon rage inside his skull.

**_ Not counting girls now? What, you're a virgin give or take a few one night stands? Thought Naruto would forgive you for just some mindless sex here and there? I mean, he couldn't really expect you to keep it in your pants for a few YEARS,_ _could he?_ **The demon exploded, its enraged voice making the Uchiha's ears ring and head ache fiercely.**_ You bastard! How dare you?! Are you seriously telling me that I had to watch you freak out and listen to your pathetic whining about how important remaining pure was to you for nothing? You hypocritical jackass! Naruto never got to touch any one AT ALL in his entire LIFE and if ever anyone should have had kids it was Kit and not you! He deserved to be loved, damn it, he deserved to have a family and be happy and not die as he did!_**

Sasuke felt his eyes prickle and his chest hurt again. He watched the ceiling far above him like his life depended on it as the fox's words hit their target.

_** Don't you DARE cry! You have no RIGHT to cry, you miserable bastard!**_

With a smile that didn't reach his eyes, Sasuke lifted the child enough to slide out from under it. He drew the blankets around the child- _Boy,_ he reminded himself- making a soft but colorful nest for him to lie in while he dozed. Sasuke deftly wiped the tears away and ran his fingers through the messy blond spikes atop the boy's head before finally turning away and retracing his steps back the way he had come.

**_ Are you even listening to me?_ **

Instead of navigating a proper exit around the tree and the couches, Sasuke simply sat on one of the arm rests and swung his legs over to the other side before resuming his walk away from the waiting room.

Away from everything.

He'd been a fool thinking that he could in some way repent his sins and earn forgiveness. Naruto wasn't around to forgive him and the blonde was the only one who had mattered. Kyuubi was right: Naruto had earned his right to live happily, earned it ten times over, and if anyone had deserved to have a family who loved him, it had been the blonde.

He would never have any of those things thanks to Sasuke.

Sasuke was nothing but trouble, a black cat that caused bad luck to all he came in contact with, intentionally or not.

Maybe it was time he did something about it, just disappear and take all the misfortune with him.

It wasn't like he would ever get to see Naruto again anyway.

_ Did you see a pharmacy or anything around here?_ _Or a window, maybe?_

**_ Why? _**The demon asked scathingly. **_What are you going to do? Distract yourself with the pretty view? Drown your sorrows in a prescription bottle?_**

…_something like that. _

The silence from the fox was deafening and Sasuke took it as assent for him to proceed with his idea.He nodded to himself distractedly as he continued blindly down the corridor.

A fist rammed itself into Sasuke's jaw, making him stagger backwards in surprise with a hand cupping the injury. He blinked rapidly, his disoriented mind playing catch up as a knee slammed into his stomach and made him double over only to have another knee- _the same knee?_ He wondered inanely- ram itself into his forehead.

Stars exploded across his vision, making it grey out briefly before coming back into watery focus. The world swam in streams of psychedelic color as blows continued to rain down on him from all sides. He felt his left forearm begin to twitch again, felt it being grabbed and twisted cruelly behind him and maybe, maybe Sasuke heard something pop, but he wasn't sure because his senses were scrambled and hazy from damage, making everything feel distant and unreal. He still felt as if he were moving even after his cheek came into contact with the cold floor tile. He lay passive, starring at the rapidly dimming far wall, his view occasionally interrupted by the shoes of his attackers.

**_ Hey? HEY!_** Kyuubi yelled at him, trying to get his attention as the attack continued. **_Are you just going to sit there and take this?! You're supposed to be from some big shot ninja family- kick their asses already!_**

_ It's better this way._ He told the fox softly. He believed it, too; with the way his body was shutting down, there would be no way to stop death from taking him now, no way to back out of his decision. There was a bizarre comfort in it, in choosing a path and seeing it through to the end, reassuring him even as the confusion set in. It was time to end the Uchiha line and let the Sharingan eye fade into a distant memory. Part of him was sad about that but he was having trouble remembering why exactly. Maybe it caused Naruto pain? _Naruto?_

**_ No! Get up! Fight back! _**The fox roared in frustration, pacing within its host.

_ Naruto? It's so cold…_ Sasuke thought, seemingly unable to focus on anything else as a chill seeped deep inside him. _Where are you, Naruto? Where…?_

_** GET UP YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR A NINJA!**_ The demon screamed desperately.

_ Naruto, where…?_ He felt hands on his shoulders, a distant warmth that made his eye lids flutter open as he was gently turned over onto his back.

_ There you are. _

Anxious blue eyes bored down into his black ones as tan hands held Sasuke's head still. Tanned skin could be seen above those eyes, surrounded by hair kissed and caressed by the sun. Devoid of all the baby fat, with a sharper chin and more defined cheekbones, changed by age- Sasuke still knew Naruto's face even without the distinctive whisker marks.

**_ Kit…_** He felt Kyuubi stop and stare in wonderment.

_ I found you! I got to see you again,_ Sasuke attempted to smile up at the blonde and failed miserably. The sudden surge of delight and relief coursing through the Uchiha was overwhelming even though he didn't understand it. He felt beads of moisture slide over his temples and didn't know if it was sweat, tears or blood.

_ I… got to… see you again. _The brunette sighed, a warm wave of nostalgia washing over him as he attempted to turn into one of Naruto's hands and nuzzle even though the blonde denied him. It didn't matter; Naruto was here, here with Sasuke one final time, and Sasuke couldn't have been happier.

Sasuke didn't know when he placed his hand over Naruto's tan one as it lay against his pale cheek or when he let go of it minutes later. He didn't know when his eyes closed, or when silence enveloped him as he stopped hearing voices from both inside and outside his head. He didn't know when the darkness claimed him, dragging him under and away.

But he did know that, for one brief beautiful moment, he had been home as he stared up at the blond above him, focused solely on the image of Naruto talking to him again, whole and alive.

He'd found his home again and, to Sasuke, such a thing was all that mattered.

* * *

More's moment:

I've been over this chapter three times and, though I think it came out relatively well, to be honest, I'm not completely happy with this ending. Now, I know many of you have questions since, no doubt, you have picked up on several oddball things. What's up with Sasuke's dream? Where is Sasuke anyway? Who's the kid? More importantly, what's Naruto doing here when he's supposed to be dead? What's going to happen to Sasuke?

The good news is that some of these are going to be addressed next chapter. The bad news is that more mysteries are on their way. Please keep reviewing to those of you who do so (and as always thank you very much for that) since it just makes me want to update faster. To those of you who don't review, well there isn't much I can say except that I hope to someday provoke a response out of you.

Thank you one and all, and I hope to see everyone back here next week.

Happy tales, all!


	4. Chapter 4: Transitions

Standard disclaimer: They're not mine, don't sue me, I have no money.

Chapter 4: Transitions

Kyuubi was not a happy camper and, as it felt another human hand begin playing around amongst his host's innards, the demon just knew things weren't going to get any better.

Things had been going so well too; while commanding idiot Sasuke's body, the fox had had a nice time stretching its legs and eating a relatively decent meal-courtesy of several lunches it had found in the hospital staff's refrigerator- before finding a great hiding place to bed down in as well as a blanket to curl up in. As inconsequential as it may seem, a change of scenery had always put the fox more at ease when anxious and, since it had worked the same way with Kit, there was a strong possibility that the Uchiha would benefit also. Sasuke needed rest, as galling as that was, true rest where he could relax without fear of being molested in any manner since the hospital room wasn't going to cut it anymore, thanks to the pervert orderlies or nurses or whatever they had been.

Damn it, Kyuubi had gone above and beyond the call of duty for his reluctant host, even managing to find Sasuke something worth looking at when he eventually woke up, and the obstinate little bastard hadn't appreciated any of it!

Sasuke was a superb ninja and his body ran like a well-oiled machine. It was actually a pleasure feeling it work around the fox, humming with strength and energy, nearly bursting with potential. But something- **_Actually a whole lot of somethings, _**the fox mused wryly- had been thrown out of alignment, making the metaphysical gears grind against each other as the wiring short circuited.

Until the Uchiha had woken up, Kyuubi had been willing to contribute the problem to its own demonic chakra in combination with extreme emotional turmoil; some humans didn't tolerate demonic energy well even when in peek physical and mental condition- some could even be driven mad by exposure to it, wasting away until they died- and Sasuke was in anything but. The mental issues the fox couldn't do anything about- that was something Sasuke had to work through on his own- but the physical was within the demon's power to control. Without a seal, his host's body was susceptible to poisoning from the fox's chakra, and, to avoid this from happening, the demon doled out only enough of its chakra to heal immediate life threatening injuries before locking it down again, saving the more delicate problems for Sasuke's natural healing abilities to handle.

A third set of hands delved into Sasuke's abdomen, the sensation making the fox shudder as it felt the new set of fingers brush alarmingly through its non-corporeal form.

**_You're not changing a light bulb, people!_** It snapped angrily, knowing no one could hear it but feeling the need to comment anyway. If it could have, the demon would have paced, it was so riled up. It had nearly lost the Uchiha, had only just managed to keep the bastard's soul firmly out of the grave while the damn thing hovered on the brink, over that delicate line separating life from death. The whole situation was just another reminder that they were not at home and that Sasuke was more fragile here. The demon would have to take extreme care when in command of his host's body as one errant slip could prove unexpectedly fatal to them all. Losing the Uchiha was not acceptable and had to be avoided at all costs if the fox was going to succeed.

Kyuubi sighed, irritated and frustrated. It listened to the voices outside and around its host, trying to make sense of the foreign tongue they spoke because, undoubtedly, it would be helpful later if at least one of them knew what these people were saying. The fox grumbled and squeezed its tightly wrapped tails in annoyance, ignoring the frantic struggling of the little bundle held firmly in the center of the coil.

**_Stop that. _**Kyuubi told it gruffly, shifting its weight a bit as the demon propped its head on one arm. **_I'm not letting you go that easy. _**

There was a slight flutter from under the fox's free hand, a weak twitch. The fox's hold remained gentle as it tightened its fingers firmly, pulling the hand and its cargo over to its chest as if keeping both warm.

**_You either._** It said quietly and settled back to wait for the humans to finish fixing the Uchiha's ailing body.

* * *

"He knew me."

The buxom blonde beside the speaker looked at him sharply, shapely eyebrows rising into her hairline as her brown eyes widened. Her voice gave away none of the concern she felt for her nephew, remaining firm as she watched him.

"You're imaging it, Andrew." She said, frowning when he just shook his head, eyes never moving from the glass viewing window of the operating theater.

"He knew me, Auntie." Andrew Pryderi insisted. "It was there in his eyes. He knew who I was, Mary, and was relieved to see me."

Mary Pryderi frowned, unsure as to where this conversation was heading. "He was probably just happy that someone found him before he was beaten to death." Her frown intensified and she cracked her knuckles, an unconscious sign that she wanted to bash someone's head in.

Andrew spared her a glance as he heard the familiar popping of cartilage, having been on the receiving end more than once. He briefly thought she was preparing to hit _him_ but her focus had resettled again on the brunette undergoing surgery, nearly lost to sight amongst the sea of plastic tubes and wires. Someone was going to pay for the abuse done to him and it looked like Mary was going to make sure they coughed up every dime. Dressed in her expensive well-tailored suit, cracking her knuckles, nails sparkling from a fresh manicure, Mary reminded her nephew of a nicely packaged mafia thug.

He knew from personal experience that she fought like one.

_Poor nurses._

At the sound of footsteps, Andrew turned his head, watching with mild interest as Franklyn Hunt, the chief of security for Andrew's household, walked over to them. Though he walked with a measured pace, there was an air of excitement about him that made Andrew smile inwardly despite the situation. The man stopped a foot before reaching them, nodding his head at both of them before delivering his report.

"He's not on any of the cameras." Frank said, and again there was that sense of interest, as if he had found a particularly amusing puzzle.

"That's not possible." Mary said flatly. "There are over two hundred cameras blanketing the grounds and guards patrolling the hallways constantly. No one can be lost for almost a day in here."

"Be that as it may," Frank said lightly, as if he hadn't just been indirectly insulted. "We've gone over the tapes and he isn't on any of them until he's being attacked."

"The boys always manage to stay out of sight." Andrew commented, not exactly defending his employee. The blonde put his hands inside his suit pockets, tapping his fingers against his thighs as he thought, rolling his shoulders absently to resettle his jacket.

"Those two are something else entirely." Mary frowned, eyebrows knitting together as she thought of the twins. Their ability to hide was truly remarkable and made poor Sam suffer for it horribly. Her great-nephews were damned entertaining though, just like their father, and she found herself patting Andrew's arm affectionately.

"They've been asking about him." Her nephew said thoughtfully, shaking his blonde head. "It seems that they both want to thank him for stopping Alex's asthma attack."

"Looks like they'll get the chance." Mary said, jerking her chin at the glass the little group stood in front of. .

Behind the pane, surgeons began to finish up. Bloody gauze pads were removed from the wound and the patient's intestines were placed back where they belonged with care, before the surgeon closed the flesh with surgical staples. Once the action was complete, the doctor moved away from the table and ambled over to the side of the room, hitting the intercom button with his elbow.

"Well folks," Dr. Johnson drawled, his Texas twang making a distinct appearance despite being muffled by the surgical mask he wore. "We found blood all right but no bleeder. Hunted for the dang thing but there's no sign of it." His hands, gloved and covered in a disturbing amount of crimson, moved upward in a gesture of confusion which was understandable; though it was true that internal bleeding could be spontaneously healed by the patient's body, it was unlikely in this case given how much internal damage this patient had suffered. No matter how small, _something_ should have been found as the cause for so much free fluid to be escaping into the abdominal cavity.

Andrew knew better than to question the man; Johnson, despite his laid back attitude, was always thorough in everything he did. If the man said he went hunting for the missing culprit then he had, undoubtedly checking every organ and vessel in the patient's lower body that could have been responsible.

The blonde male pushed the intercom button on his side of the glass. "Thank you, Chuck. Recovery will keep an eye on him."

The surgeon nodded his head as if dipping an imaginary hat and went back to the table, helping his residents finish up. A few minutes later, the doors to the theater swung open, disgorging several nurses and their patient as they headed down the hall to the Recovery unit.

Andrew watched them go before turning away from the miniature parade, hands in his pockets once more. Mary took one look at her nephew's face and felt a flutter of anxiety in her stomach. She knew that particular look and knew that whatever he was thinking was going to give her heartburn.

"You checked all the cameras?" Andrew asked, glancing at Frank.

"Every single one of them is working properly."

Mary unconsciously held her breath, waiting, worrying the roll of antacids in her jacket pocket.

There was a moment of thoughtful silence, then, just as Mary was beginning to think she was safe…

"When he's stable I want him moved to the house."

"_What?!_" Mary stared at him incredulously. She grabbed him by his jacket's lapels and gave him a shake so hard it nearly pushed him up off his feet. "Andrew, have you lost your mind? He _attacked_ two nurses, knocked them unconscious and tied up-"

"And locked them in a closet." Frank added, taking out his cell phone.

Mary pointed at Frank. "_AND _locked them in a closet! He's violent!"

"He also stole several lunches and slept in the lobby behind the Christmas tree- which I still think is _way_ too big- but the point is that he didn't fight back later." Andrew pointed out, arching an eyebrow and earning another shake. "If there was ever a time to be truly violent, it was while he was getting the shit beaten out of him by disgruntled hospital employees."

"He could be unstable!" She pointed out. "Consider the shape he was in when you found him."

"He's not unstable." Andrew assured her, watching as her face twisted itself in an amusing manner.

"Would you like him housed in the East wing or West?" Frank interrupted, non-pulsed by the possibility of having a crazy stranger around.

"He'll need constant monitoring." Mary growled threateningly. "You don't have the staff for that."

"East, for now." The blonde male said, untangling his aunt's hands from his jacket.

"Violet, did you get that? Excellent." Frank said, nodding to himself and ending the call. He pressed another button and spoke a few words to the person on the other end before hanging up again. "Hinata will cover guard duty."

Andrew grinned innocently at his aunt, one open hand directed at his security leader as if to illustrate his point that she had nothing to worry about.

Mary felt like punching both their lights out but instead of acting on the impulse she spoke slowly and calmly, because speaking in any other manner would cause her to lose control and give in. "Andrew, you can not do this. Think of your kids. Never mind that he could be psycho! Andrew…"

Helplessly, she gave up dancing around the major issue at hand and just said it. "Andrew, doing something like this could mess those kids up. I know it's hard, and I know you are hurting, but this…"

She trailed off as she looked at her nephew, taking in his closed off expression. It made him cold- unapproachable- and completely unreasonable. His face lost expression, blanking out as she stared, but his eyes were like blue chips of ice, full of anger and pain. Mary sighed in defeat, knowing better than to continue her argument; he'd made up his mind and there was no way to talk him out of it now.

Forced to regroup, Mary rounded on Frank. "The _second_ he starts behaving oddly, I want him out of that house. I will not risk my princes on a whim."

Calming, Andrew smiled as Frank nodded, the latter giving her a small soldier's salute.

Two days later, the patient in question was relocated to the Pryderi mansion.

* * *

Someone's wailing and Kyuubi's irate cursing woke Sasuke up, and the Uchiha mentally rose to awareness gradually, immediately pushing himself up into a sitting position to face whatever the problem was. Pain in his stomach from the action made him want to lay right back down but the noise assaulting his ears triggered instincts honed by years of training, ones that overrode pain and fatigue. He sat amidst a nest of covers and tried to make sense of the blurry sights around him.

_I hate hospitals._ The brunette thought, finally giving in and covering his ears in an attempt to protect them from the ice-pick like vibrations driving into his skull.

**_You're not in a hospital._** Kyuubi told him gruffly while Sasuke's eyes adjusted and focused. He felt the fox rise and pace a bit before settling again and elaborating. **_I think we've been taken in by this family. They seem to be caring for you… or at least they did until all the racket started._**

_Is that Sakura?_ The girl in question was near the doorway of the room, sitting in a chair holding her thigh. Dressed in a black dress with a white apron, the pink haired kunoichi looked older than Sasuke remembered, more mature since she had apparently hit a growth spurt. She was the one making all the noise as she cried, tears glittering on her cheeks as she talked to a distinctly silver haired man in a dark suit. Without the ever-present mask and distinctive scar over his left eye it was hard to tell but… _Is that Kakashi?_

**_Something like that. _**The fox said carelessly, as if it were of no great consequence. **_Lay back down, go to sleep. You're still healing and the bitch brought it on herself anyway._**

_What?!_ Sasuke's head was reeling, his mind trying to work through what was happening and make sense of everything. But it was hard, so hard, because he was missing pieces, all the little pieces that glued everything together, and his head ached trying to cram what information he did have together in a coherent format. The headache seared through the pain already caused by the Sakura-look-alike's wailing, and Sasuke swore he could feel _gears_ in his body grinding together making it all worse.

**_Calm down,_** Kyuubi soothed, the fox's agitation adding to his host's, making Sasuke's whole left side begin to twitch painfully. **_No, calm down! Go back to sleep. Lay down, back to sleep._** And the demon kept repeating it, quietly, like a mantra as it fought to follow its own advice.

A hand on his shoulder made Sasuke jump, made him flinch away from the contact. The Uchiha looked up at his potential attacker, surprised when he came face to face with Hinata Hyuuga. Her hair was longer, her body more mature, but her eyes held the same shy, gentle look from their genin days. Frazzled and disoriented, he responded to it and relaxed enough to allow her light grip on his right shoulder to guide him back down to the mattress. She moved slowly and deliberately as she tucked him back in, stopping her motions if he tensed up, resuming only when he relaxed.

"Sasuke." He said as he lay down on his left side, ignoring the discomfort this caused and pointing at himself in an uncoordinated fashion as he tried to remind her of his identity. His voice was so rough, thick from sleep and disuse, that he barely recognized it as his own. The Uchiha attempted to clear it and wound up coughing instead, his throat aching. "Sasuke."

She said something to him but he couldn't seem to understand the words, the syllabic rhythm confusing him, but her tone was reassuring and her voice was soft, so he guessed that she was trying to sooth him as she smoothed the cover over his shoulder.

**_She's been here since you arrived._** Kyuubi murmured as Sasuke's eyelids slid shut. **_I think she's here to guard you though I don't know why. No, no. I'll keep watch, you sleep. _**The fox ordered when Sasuke began to flutter back open in an attempt to stay alert. His host settled again, unconsciously sinking into the soft fabrics surrounding him, and Kyuubi sighed in relief when Sasuke's mind lapsed back into a rhythm indicative of deep sleep.

**_Alright Hyuuga,_** The fox thought, true to its word and keeping track of its host's caretaker. **_Don't make a liar out of me._**

* * *

****

"Everyone out!" Hinata said, her eyes on the heart monitor, watching as her patient's heart rate and blood pressure began to drop back to normal levels. She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding as Sasuke's vitals held steady, the new sedative injected into his IV taking affect with no adverse reactions.

She shot a glare at Violet as the maid began to make noises about how injured her leg was, obviously making a play to be carried and fawned over. Before any such thing could happen, however, Hinata strode over, grabbed the other woman by the arm and forcibly removed her from the room.

"What happened?" Frank asked quietly, leaving the bedroom door open a fraction so Hinata could watch their house guest.

"He attacked me!" Violet said in distress, loud enough that it made Hinata tense warningly. The maid ignored her though and continued at the same volume, clinging to the door frame as she favored her leg. "I was just straightening the covers and he lashed out!"

Frank nodded and made a note on the notepad he held before beckoning someone down the hallway to come over. "Neji, please take Violet downstairs and see to her wound."

Neji Hyuuga nodded once to both, first to Frank then to his sister, before flicking his eyes over the teary-eyed maid and taking in her hobbling form. One dark eye brow rose but he merely scooped Violet into his arms without a word and left to follow Frank's orders.

"Now," Frank murmured as Hinata finished visually checking Sasuke through the half closed door. "Tell me what our strawberry princess was really doing."

Hinata suppressed the urge to start yelling, instead working hard to keep her voice quiet and even as she gave her report. "I left my post momentarily, Sir, and when I came back she was inside molesting Sasuke."

"Sasuke?" Frank asked, eyes amused.

Hinata frowned, realizing that the man thought she had given their guest a pet name. "I believe that's his name, Sir."

"How was she…molesting him?"

Again the Hyuuga fought to keep her temper as she explained, half disgusted with her boss for finding such humor in the situation. "He's started sleeping on his stomach, turning over in the night, sometimes curling up on his side." Frank gave her a look, obviously not interested in Sasuke's sleeping habits. She hurried on. "Violet was touching him, Sir."

"That doesn't explain why he hurt her." Frank said, pulling out is cell phone but not dialing. "I've touched him. You've touched him. Neji's touched him."

"_Neji_ carried him in initially. _You_ touched his arm when we got him into bed. _I_ have touched him while administering care and…and…" She felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment; she didn't want to admit that she had also been petting his head when he showed signs of distress. "_She_," Hinata ground out, pointing down the hallway in the vague direction her brother had taken Violet. "_She_ was rubbing… was rubbing…"

Frank's eyebrows rose into his hairline as he watched the newest addition to the Pryderi household staff blush beet red. "She was rubbing…?"

"She r-rubbed his b-bottom, Sir." Hinata stuttered out, face a brilliant shade of pink. "Then she… s-smacked it, Sir."

Frank stared at her, caught between extreme amusement and extreme annoyance. "And then he…"

"He was still asleep!" Hinata said, jumping to Sasuke's defense. "And while he slept, he kicked out at her."

Frank blinked, surprised. Considering the way Violet was carrying on, one would think Sasuke had leapt off the bed after her with a knife. He played with the phone for a minute before re-entering the bedroom, Hinata at his heels.

Aside from the occupied bed, the room was immaculate, though this was mostly due to disuse rather than a comment on Violet's ability to keep things in order. Besides the bed, the guest room was furnished with a handful of other pieces. To the right of the entrance was a small table accompanied by a plush sitting chair. Not far from the pair, halfway to the private bathroom door, sat a five drawer bureau which was empty currently except for an extra set of clothing for the bed's occupant. Completing the set was a nightstand on which sat a table lamp, both having been moved to the side to make room for the various monitors tracking Sasuke's health and the IV pole. Illuminating the area was a large bay window that took up most of the left side of the room. The dark crimson drapes had been tied on either side and framed the clear glass panes that allowed the weak fall sunlight in. Outside, snow had fallen and the view onto the grounds would have been picturesque if had not obscured by the ice adorned branches of a dead tree that resided nearby.

Every piece of furniture was made of dark brown wood, all glossy from recent dusting and the color went well with the rest of the room's color scheme, contrasting pleasantly with the red and gold hues in the fabrics and paint. Guest room or not, it was fit for visiting royalty.

"It's not like she cleans much." Hinata grumbled under her breath as she followed her boss back to the bed, obviously having an issue with Violet invading her territory.

"Violet is very good at polishing." Frank remarked offhandedly, ignoring his subordinate's obvious puzzlement at his remark. He looked down at Sasuke, eyebrows drawing together as he leaned forward, his hands folded securely behind his back with one hand holding his cell phone, very carefully not touching the brunette as he examined the unconscious male.

"I thought his left side exhibited signs of nerve degeneration." He remarked softly, inches above the pale skin. "It must hurt to be laying like this."

Hinata thought it best not to remark on just how doped-up her patient was; with all the medication in his system, Sasuke could be ripped apart by a rusty thresher and wouldn't feel any of it. "I think it's a protective position; his left side is his weakest and though it may hurt, he sleeps on it to protect it from further injury." Frank looked at her, silver eyebrows in his hair line. "At least th-that's w-what I think…"

"An interesting observation." Frank said mildly, turning back to the bed, straightening up not long after. He sighed and put his phone away. "For now, lets keep this quiet. No need to worry Mary or Andrew…"

"Hey," There was a sharp knock on the door followed by an unruly blond head sticking itself through the doorway. Dressed in his pajamas, Andrew stepped into the room fully, running his hand through his hair before sticking both hands into the pockets of his bathrobe. "Vi said she got in a fight with a table or something up here…?"

"And you came to see if there were any other attacks?" Frank asked dryly, taking in his boss's state of dress as the other wandered over to the bed. Andrew shrugged and settled on the opposite side of the bed, the mattress dipping from his weight enough to make Sasuke slide an inch backward. The blonde kept his eyes on his security lead; Sasuke may as well not have existed.

Hinata couldn't help herself as she held in a breath, gaze flicking between the bed and Sasuke's heart monitor, the machine noting an increased heart rate.

"So how's the potato?" The blonde asked even as he picked up Sasuke's medical chart and began flipping through it. His eyes brows shot up periodically as he scanned over the information, his lips turning down in a frown the further he went. He held a hand out to Frank and made a beckoning motion.

"He says his name is 'Sasuke.'" Frank said, handing his employer a pen, watching the blond as he began scribbling.

"Really?" Andrew glanced up at him, the picture of interest. "He woke up?"

Frank shrugged dismissively and suddenly Hinata found herself in the spot light as intense sky blue eyes turned toward her. "W-well, he woke up for a moment but then went back to sleep."

Andrew pursed his lips and frowned, his expression perilously close to being a pout. Ignoring Sasuke, he leaned over the other male and hit a few buttons on the heart monitor, ignoring his suddenly tense employees as he settled back with a print out.

Hinata bit her lip and held her breath as Sasuke's body bobbed up and down with Andrew's movement. She feared what would happen to her patient if Andrew tripped a defense response, wondering if Sasuke would be sent back to the hospital only to be sent later to rot in prison on an assault charge. But Sasuke remained unconscious, a veritable life-sized rag doll with a heart beat that lolled bonelessly as Andrew shifted, and he would remain that way for hours to come thanks to the sedative and pain medication cocktail circulating through his blood stream.

"I'm surprised he woke up at all." The blonde muttered as he studied the print-out. "Aunt Mary's precautions have done their job well. Whoa!" Andrew's eyebrows shot into his hair in surprise as he came across a particular patch of sharply defined peaks and valleys. "Any idea what woke him up? Had to be something pretty major to rouse him."

Frank didn't even blink. "Nightmare most likely." He shrugged and clapped a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "His nursemaid gave him something to calm him down and put him back to bed."

Andrew glanced at Hinata briefly before returning to the chart in his lap, once again setting pen to paper. "I want you to follow this immediately. Mary may think she's pretty sly keeping him comatose but if he stays like this any longer, he really will be a vegetable."

"Frank, if you're through here I need your help with a project downstairs." He handed Hinata the chart, again making Sasuke bob gently as the blonde stretched his upper body and shifted to stand up. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, Andrew headed through the doorway, not waiting for the other man to follow. He took three steps down the hallway before Alex and Brian came running up the stairs, barreling toward him before skidding to a halt a few inches away, just barely in time to avoid smacking into their father's legs.

"Is he awake?" Alexander asked quietly, looking peering around his father's leg, interest making his blue eyes shine.

"Can we see him yet?" Brian asked, looking up at his father, openly excited as he tried to catch a glimpse of the room beyond.

"Nope to both questions, kiddos!" Andrew said, picking both six year olds up and grinning at them. "He was hurt very badly so he needs to rest, you both know that." He bounced them reproachfully and both boys wrapped their arms around his neck so tightly that they threatened to strangle him. "So, have you two eaten yet?"

"Not yet." Brian replied, pale fingers tapping a rhythm against his brother's tan hand while he talked to their father. "What to come eat with us?"

"Yeah, Daddy," Alex added, and Andrew turned to look into eyes as blue as his own. "We haven't eaten with you in a while."

The elder blond winced and put both boys back down on the floor. He put a hand on each head and ruffled their hair with a sigh. "I can't. I have to finish a project in the office." He thought a moment as they made sounds of disappointment. "What about I join you for dinner? I'll work really hard and see you in the evening."

Both nodded and stayed still as he messed up their hair again in what was supposed to be an affectionate gesture; instead it only managed to emphasize how little time parent and child were spending with one another.

"Can we say hello to Hinata?" Alex asked plaintively as Frank joined them.

"Five minutes." Andrew said sternly. "Five minutes only and then you two leave. Hinata's in charge so do as she says!" He called after then as they bounded through the door way. With a sigh, Andrew shook his head and headed down the hallway, Frank at his heels.

"Is he getting better?" Brian asked immediately after heedlessly jumping on the bed, the action sending Sasuke bobbing once again while at the same time coming perilously close to giving Hinata a heart attack. Behind him, Alex clambered up onto the bed, blonde hair matching the gold tones in the décor but looking out of place beside the two brunettes.

Hinata smiled at the boys and nodded as she implemented the changes in Sasuke's care, paying careful attention to the monitors. Her eyes skimmed over the scribbled notes in the chart's margins, frowning as she turned the page this way and that in an effort to decipher Andrew's scrawled hand writing.

"Lemme see." Alex held out his hand for the chart, peering at the word in question when he got it. Brian leaned over his shoulder and the blonde positioned the chart so they could both look over it.

"'Reduce to half.'" They said simultaneously, and Alex handed the clipboard back to Hinata so she could make the appropriate adjustments.

"So, he's getting better but he hasn't woken up?" Alex asked, frowning as he looked down at the sleeper.

After moving down to the end of the bed, very carefully Hinata sat down on the corner, giving her patient a wide berth and motioning the children to do the same. "Your dad's changed his medication so there's a good chance he'll be awake by tomorrow. I don't think he'll be up to visitors, though."

"We just wanted to thank him." Alex said plaintively as Brian nodded.

"That's right, I heard you met him when he gave you medication for an attack." Hinata said, looking over the blond. "How's your asthma?"

"No attacks since." Alex informed her, frowning even as he took an exaggerated breathe. "But he didn't give me any thing to stop it."

"He didn't?" Hinata asked, eyebrows knitting together as the little blonde shook his head. "Then how did he stop it?"

The twins looked at each other before speaking and, just as Alex was about to answer her, Sasuke made a small noise and rolled over. The movement was so sudden and unexpected it startled Hinata, sending her to the floor as she slipped off the mattress. Sasuke caught both boys with his legs, sending them backwards into the bunched material of the comforter and hiding the two from view.

Heart in her throat, the Hyuuga struggled back up seconds later, visions of the twins black and blue plaguing her mind. _Please, please Sasuke, don't have hurt them!_ "Is everyone okay?" She asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, we're okay." Brian said, blinking at her in surprise. He propped himself up on his elbows, none the worse for wear from the abrupt shift in position. His brother lay beside him in a similar position and was just as equally unharmed. "Why wouldn't we be?"

Hinata tried to be discrete as she sighed in relief. "No reason, really, just wanted to make sure you hadn't hit the headboard."

Brian frowned at her, expression saying that he clearly knew she was hiding something. He sat up fully and watched her intently as she stood up, her eyes glancing at her patient's heart monitor.

"I think he can breathe better now." Alex said, blond head directed to the figure under the covers. "His chest was getting squished."

"Squished?" Hinata parroted, walking around the bed so she stood beside Sasuke. Her patient had rolled over onto his back, right arm thrown carelessly out, his chest expanding rhythmically as he breathed. He had turned his head away from her so that his face now lay toward Brian. There was nothing to support the blonde's idea that anything had been wrong to begin with, but she frowned anyway at the little feeling of guilt in her chest. The Hyuuga's hand hovered over Sasuke's chest, afraid to close the distance and risk provoking any further movement.

Brian watched her, dark eyes flicking between patient and caretaker, taking mental notes on her behavior as he absorbed the scene, planning to examine it all later when the adults weren't around.

Alex, however, picked up on Hinata's tension but, instead of becoming cautious, decided to respond in another way. He flopped down onto her patient, provoking a grunt but nothing more as the blonde laid his ear against Sasuke's chest, listening to the calming thud of the brunette's heart as he watched Hinata's face contort into all sorts of amusing expressions.

"You can touch him." Alex said, grabbing her hand and pressing it flush against the chest underneath him. "He doesn't mind."

A thought, a memory, tried to rise to the surface of Brian's mind as he took in the scene of his brother half-lounging happily on the chest of the slumbering male and he suppressed it with a vengeance. While his brother and Hinata talked, his gaze wandered to the sleeper's face and he swore that, for a second, he saw slitted red eyes looking back at him before the lids snapped shut to hide the orbs from view again.

"It's been longer than five minutes!" Hinata suddenly barked, her face hardening as she snatched her hand back. She glared at them all, eyes darting from the blond to the two brunettes, part of her noting the eerie similarity between all three faces, especially with Brian's face so close to the elder male's. The boy seemed to be studying the other intently as he leaned close, almost nose to nose with the sleeper. Asleep, Sasuke looked younger, not as young as the twins but definitely years younger than the story his body told, and it just helped to reinforce the idea that all three males on the bed were related in some fashion.

_Maybe Sasuke is their cousin?_ She wondered, making shooing motions at the boys until they complied and slid onto the floor. "Don't you have breakfast to eat? I thought Sam would have had you fed by now…"

"We ate already." Brian said grumpily, wandering over to the window and looking out at the grounds until Hinata rounded them up and herded the two through the door way. Alex nodded dejectedly.

Frowning, she thought back to how the twins had tried to coax their father into eating with them. _If they had already eaten, why ask…? Oh. OH!_ "I'm sure your father is looking forward to having dinner with you." She offered lamely.

Throwing over the shoulders glances at the bed, the boys made non-committal grunts as they waved good bye and headed downstairs.

* * *

More's Moment:

Terribly sorry about the delay, folks, but thank you for waiting. Hope you liked the chapter even though there wasn't too much of Sasuke in it this time around. Grr.. I downloaded some security software from my ISP and, not only do I loose my internet connectability, suddenly my computer won't work as it should!

I promise that, if you bear with me, everything will be explained. Little hints and clues will be revealed each chapter that will keep everything cohesive later on though they may not seem like it now. As such, I have to be careful not to undermine myself or get confused- because let's face it, if I'm confused on how this all fits together, then this story will just suck in the end.

I really, really hate it when that happens to a good (am I bragging?) story. Makes me so angry, like I wasted my time reading it, and I truly don't want anyone to feel that way when reading my works..

Some of you may also be wondering about the title of this little story, and though it may not make sense at the moment, I'll explain- at least about the river. According to Greek Mythology, the river Styx is the river that the souls of the dead are carried across before they can make it into Tartarus, the land of the dead. There is also a myth about this nymph named Styx, but for at least the time being we will be ignoring her. I'll try and relate certain keep points back to the myths surrounding the river, since some of you voiced comments of it, and to also give explanations at the end of each chapter if it's not in the story proper. If you're still confused after that, let me know in a review and I will try to address it as long as it doesn't damage my story plot.

Lastly, if any of you think I am a bit rude for not responding to individual reviews, I ask that you please not take this habit as a slight to you. After all, you did take the time to review and all. I try not to do this simply because I try to address concerns and comments within the story and concentrate my time and energy with the actual plot and making things work. I don't do it to be mean so please don't take it personally. To be honest, when I find that a story I read and like a lot has added a new chapter, I get all excited and then really annoyed when most of the chapter is taken up by the author responding to reviews. Sometimes these reviews are neat and I do learn little tidbits of information but most of the time I feel cheated, especially when the responses are longer than the entire chapter! I'm a fairly placid person-no, really- and, if something gets under my skin, I know I can't be the only one with the issue. Strange, but true.

I appreciate any and all reviews- just please don't expect me to answer them all individually. If, however, a lot of people have expressed similar questions regarding a particular issue, and providing I can tell you about it, I will address it at the beginning of the new chapter.

Thank you everyone, and until next chapter, happy tales!


	5. Chapter 5: Being Needed

Chapter 5: Being Needed

"Are you sure about this?" Alex's worried whisper sounded loud in the night and Brian instinctively froze against the tree branch he was currently clinging to.

"Yes!" Brian hissed down at the blond. "Now come on or we'll be found!"

Knowing that his brother was right, at least about the narrow window of time between security sweeps, Alex began scaling the tree carefully. It wasn't that he was afraid of heights, exactly; it was just that the tree looked so darn unstable- as if it would fall down any second! Normally, the more years of life a tree had, the better it was for climbing but this tree seemed to be the exception to the rule as branches creaked over head, swaying like giant skeletal arms in the bitterly cold breeze. Alex wondered briefly if trees could get angry about being hung all over as the branch beneath him gave an ominous groan, making the ice clinging to it crack loudly.

Nimble as a monkey and already at the top, Brian hissed out an order to be quiet, the darker of the pair already fiddling with the window they sought. The brunette took something out of the backpack slung over his shoulder, concentrating as he worked at the narrow outer sill and barely sparing more than an occasional glance for his brother several feet below.

Alex continued to climb, trying and failing to suppress a nearly overwhelming sense of urgency. Fingers near frozen, back ridged with tension, lung burning and hitching warningly, the blonde scaled the branches as fast as he could, ignoring the continued orchestra of ominous sounds coming from the ancient tree. Heart galloping in his chest and wheezing, the blonde rose higher and higher, nearly loosing his grip several times as he desperately made his way upward toward his brother and the window inside.

"Hey, Brian," He asked worriedly, hearing a click above as Brian gained entrance. The large window swung outward as it opened and the brunette disappeared from view as he crawled inside.

_Wasn't this the tree Daddy ordered to be cut down?_

"Brian!" Alex hissed urgently as a large crack directly below him sounded from the branch he stood on. The world teetered as the branch split and he made a grab for the tree trunk, only to find that his hands couldn't get a firm grip on the old and peeling bark. He lunged for another branch, turning too fast on the ice coated limb, slipping and sliding as the world swung crazily around him. With a dull scream of tearing wood, the branch broke apart, plummeting earthward, taking out other branches in its wake, and Alex wondered briefly if being impaled hurt as much as it _looked_ like it did in the movies. He screwed his eyes shut and covered his face with his hands, waiting to crash into the wood below.

_I'm sorry Mr. Tree!_

Branches swayed in the wind. Ice cracked and fell away. An owl hooted distantly. But that was all and, very slowly, Alex peeked through his fingers, wondering why he was hovering in mid air. He was still at the same height as before but there was no branch beneath his feet- actually there wasn't _anything_ beneath his feet supporting him. To prove that he was not dreaming, he flexed his foot and hunted for a surface as he looked left and right, prodding the air around him first with his toe then with a hesitant hand to find an explanation as to why he was dangling in midair.

Below him he could see a nasty twisted pile of branches, broken limbs all tangled together from the fall and impact, but he didn't have time to dwell on this as he felt pressure around his middle pulling him upward. He twisted, trying to see what had saved him, and found only a skeleton-like hand holding him from behind, a hand that tightened warningly when he continued to fidget. In seconds, he was being deposited on a sturdy branch near the window, safe and unharmed, and as he crawled carefully through the portal, his savior branch held the glass open for him.

"Um, thank you." Alex said politely, wide eyed as the branch shut the window once he was safely inside. On his tiptoes, he peered over the sill through the glass and watched the branch sink and settle back into its original position, for all the world an ordinary branch once more.

Thoroughly confused but filled with excitement, the blonde hurriedly pulled off the jacket he wore and threw it to the floor, kicking off his boots right after. He checked his hair for snow and bark, dusting the strands haphazardly before deeming himself presentable for bed.

"It's about time." Brain whispered, already making himself at home in the large bed. He'd pulled the covers over himself, obviously trying to warm up before they went ahead with their little plan. He shivered but held the comforter open while Alex climbed up and joined him, the two bundling together as they waited for feeling to return to their frozen small bodies.

A little while later, when both boys were warmer, Brain rolled over and grinned at the bed's other occupant.

"We came to keep you company again," The brunette whispered to the sleeper as he crawled close, Alex right beside him.

"In case you were lonely." The blonde elaborated as they moved, each picking a side of the sleeper and cuddling close.

"You don't mind, do you?" Both asked simultaneously, each voice a whisper as they pulled the blankets up to cover all three.

They didn't receive an answer but then again, they hadn't really expected one. Hinata had warned them that he would sleep for a while longer and so the twins accepted the silence for assent as they fell asleep. He would need them once he woke, they both knew, and when he did they would be there to greet and help him.

Their mother had warned them, after all.

* * *

He was running again, chasing after a pale haired figure that he never seemed to get any closer to. No matter how fast or how far Sasuke ran, the distance between them frustratingly remained far out of reach. Sometimes he ran on four feet in a sleek body that nimbly dodged around obstacles that would suddenly appear in his path though, more often, he remained in his normal form, tripping and stumbling but continuing none the less. He ran over ground, over air, and over everything but always with the same result of being left completely alone. 

Finally his limbs could take more and his legs buckled from exertion, the Uchiha collapsed to the floor in a heap, his body refusing to budge. Panting and crying, barely able to lift his head, he got to his hands and knees to crawl and carry-on with his pursuit but he was spent and could go no further, nearly sinking into the watery surface that appeared below him where the floor had been seconds ago. Sasuke looked for land and could find none as every surface around him dissolved into the liquid, creating an ocean that rippled gently underneath him and, instinctively, he sought his goal, looking for the only person he knew could restore normalcy to this place.

To him.

Despair gripped him when he realized that he couldn't find his person and Sasuke let himself lay back down, surprised when he didn't immediately sink below the waves lapping against his body. He as alone, a cast away set adrift on a sea of emptiness. If his person wasn't there, then there was no point in it anymore and he decided to give up. Lost, confused, he pressed his forehead against the liquid and tried to force his way under, dimly sensing them deep in the watery abyss beneath him, consumed with thoughts of finding that person, wanting to see them desperately.

Hands on his shoulders stopped him and guided him upright to sit on his knees as the person they belonged to did the same before him. Sasuke tried to identify the person stopping him, tried to tell them to go away and leave him alone because there was nothing left for him here anymore but the person placed their thumbs gently over his eyes to keep them closed. Gentle fingers wiped his tear-streaked face carefully clean and, once dry, angled his head to rest in the crook of the other person's neck as warm arms wrapped around his huddled form, ignoring his protests and keeping him close even as he tried to pull away.

He was being soothed and comforted and Sasuke knew he didn't deserve any of it. He'd failed! He'd failed the only one he had ever wanted to protect and surely he needed to be punished for it. Why wait around until death claimed him? Why not just get it over with and save everyone the trouble? He belonged in Hell, damn it, why not just let him burn as he was supposed to? He sobbed and raged at the one holding him so tenderly, voicing his thoughts in a wail, pushing, nearly shoving as he fought to free himself to continue his earlier pursuits.

"Just let me go!" Sauske was winding down, exhausted from his unsuccessful endeavors, his voice dragging while he pleaded. "Just let me die!" He put his face in his hands and sobbed, chest aching fiercely as thoughts of the blonde filled his head. "Naruto, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

He dissolved into hiccupping sobs and sagged helplessly against his companion, filled with grief and heartsick from it.

"Teme," The person cradling him murmured, voice rumbling against Sasuke's ear. "You always have been so damn stubborn."

Oh gods- not again, not another surrogate doll to find solace in. This was wrong and disturbing on so many levels, so many, many levels that is was horrifying. He despised himself for his weakness, shamed that he wasn't strong enough to do what needed doing that he was trying to give himself a way out like some coward. He'd never be able to face Naruto at this rate…though that wasn't likely to happen anyway, he realized sadly; the blonde was in heaven and heaven had no room for people who betray others.

For people like Sasuke Uchiha.

"I have to go." The brunette said in a small voice, chest aching fiercely as new tears flowed over his cheeks. He missed the blonde so badly that Sasuke couldn't function and he doubted sincerely that he'd ever get over it enough to be even relatively coherent. He realized that the blonde's death was just going to be one of those events, something that broke him so badly that he was just never going to get over it, an event that would just destroy him from the inside out while he pined away in mourning. He pushed at the chest he laid against with both hands, ignoring the doll and looking out at the endless expanse of water around them, searching furtively for the image he had been chasing after earlier. "I have to go."

"Yes you do." The doll said and he could almost feel it smiling down at him as it nodded. It would not let him go, arms wrapping around Sasuke's waist firmly to press the Uchiha against its warm body and only then did he realize how cold he truly was. He watched it take in his dull eyes, pained expression and tears, felt it begin rubbing his back in reassuring circles, as it placed a kiss on his forehead. "You have to wake up."

"No." The brunette said, averting his eyes to stare fixedly at the doll's chest. He couldn't get free no matter how hard he tried so he simply sat and stared, waiting until he was released. "Its better if I don't."

The doll frowned at him and gave him a gentle shake. "You're needed." It countered, tilting his chin up and placing a kiss on his cheek this time.

"Naruto needed me." Sasuke said, looking away as his eyes filled again. He swallowed noisily, feeling the resulting lump hurt all the way down. He closed his eyes and tried to will everything away.

"You saved him." It told him, using his chin as a hand hold and forcing him to look it in the face.

Unable to turn his head, he stared fixedly at the blonde's spiky hair as he spoke. "I failed him." If he didn't acknowledge it, the trick would fall apart. If he refused to believe it, his sense of self-preservation would give up the ruse and then he could continue to try and drown himself.

The doll huffed and rolled its eyes at him, the gesture so hauntingly reminiscent of Naruto that Sasuke clenched his fists at his sides to distract himself from the fierce ache in his heart.

"You love him." The doll tried to reassure him and smiled softly, ignoring the pained sound the expression provoked in the brunette.

"My love kills." He screwed his eyes shut tightly, swallowing down the wail building in his throat. It looked just like Naruto, even acted and sounded like him, and Sasuke felt his grief reach new heights.

_It's not real!_ He repeated over and over desperately, teeth grinding together as he screwed his eyes shut. _It's not real! It's not real! _

The doll held him at arms' length and shook him roughly, as if trying to shake its point of view into him while forcing him to look at it again. "You're being stupid!"

"It's the truth." Sasuke pointed out, tone flat with no emotion as he fell back into familiar habits, his expression blanking out so that he appeared unaffected, his eyes firmly focused to the side on the water, watching the waves lap languidly at their knees. Ignoring the damn doll wasn't working- wasn't making it go away- so it was time for better proven methods of coping when trying to avoid dealing with a troubling issue. He was close to imploding, to completely losing his mind from the emotional maelstrom inside him- if he hadn't already, that is- so he forced down his pain, the bottled emotions making his chest swell as he tried to shut out his awareness of the doll.

"Damn it, teme, damn it!" The doll exploded suddenly, apparently reaching the end of its patience and beginning to rant. "I said you couldn't come _**yet**_, you idiot! That doesn't mean you can't come at all, just not _**now**_ so get back out there!" It shook him again, this time hard enough to rattle Sasuke's teeth, before crushing him against its chest in a fierce hug again.

It buried its nose in his hair and sobbed, begging. "You can't do this, teme. You can't leave me. I know you're hurt and I know it's hard, but, please…" It released him, opting instead to cradle his face between its warm hands and rest its forehead against his, impossibly blue eyes pleading as they bored into Sasuke's dark ones.

"Live, Sasuke." The blonde whispered, and Sasuke had to blink as tears fell onto his face from the other's eyes. "I'm giving you an order as a Hokage-in-training so as a Leaf ninja you **have** to follow it no matter what! I'm ordering you to live- no more suicide attempts- and I want you to promise me that you will."

Sasuke searched those familiar blue eyes now sparkling with personality, his heart pounding in his chest, picking up speed until he thought it would burst free as something akin to awe began to bloom in is heart. It wasn't possible, but… But… "Naruto?"

"Don't be afraid to live!" The other said, continuing in an urgent voice. "I know you, teme, and I know you'll try this again if someone doesn't stop you! Live Sasuke and promise me you'll do it!"

The blonde shook him until he responded.

"I-I promise." Sasuke stuttered out in a whisper. "Are..?"

He couldn't get out any more as the blonde's mouth descended on his, kissing him passionately while nearly crushing him in a too-tight hug, forcing him to either open his mouth to allow access of have his lips crushed between their teeth. Sasuke's bruised lips parted and the blonde gladly accepted the invitation, tongue delving in to explore the hot cavern beyond, encouraging the Uchiha to make little noises and forget his previous question. They continued to make out, the blonde's lips never leaving Sasuke's to allow him to speak, tan hands quickly snaking under Sauske's clothing to touch the brunette's skin in a hungry manner. It was as if touch was food, the blonde starving and Sauske an all you could eat buffet. Hands roamed over the Uchiha's cold skin, leaving searing heat in their wake, making the Uchiha's temperature rise sharply. He clung to the blonde, pulling away and panting for air as the heat built inside him, making his strength dissipate and his thoughts scramble.

_It's…so hot._ He tried to form the words but couldn't, preoccupied with trying to get enough air. _It's...__**too**__ hot! _Sasuke swallowed thickly and fisted a hand in the blonde's hair, glaring up accusingly, feeling slightly hurt and betrayed. Sweat seeped from every pour, a brief coolness that momentarily returned speech, his voice harsh and low as he spoke. "What did…you do… to me?"

His body rebelled and the Uchiha could do nothing but lay passive in the others arms. Limp, he could do nothing but breathe in harsh pants as the other placed lips to his ear, laying a cool cheek against his now burning skin in the process. Sasuke struggled to keep everything in focus as grey ate at his vision, struggled to keep his hold on his companion and not succumb to the fatigue quickly sweeping through his body.

"I love you." The lips moved, fanning hot breath over the sensitive shell of his ear, provoking a whimper of longing to escape before Sasuke could stop it. "I love you and I forgive you so don't do anything stupid, Sasuke."

The Uchiha felt his eyes fill again, salty moisture escaping to coat his cheeks and perhaps the blonde's though he didn't know for sure. He lost the battle for consciousness, dark eyes closing as he fell backwards in the other's arms, some compelling force dragging him down well beyond the few feet that had separated him from the watery floor, pulling him impossibly deeper and always down. Sasuke felt himself falling, wind buffeting his body as he hurtled downward from some incredible height. Down he plummeted, tumbling in freefall and gaining speed by the second as his descent continued, but, even though he knew his landing would be far from gentle, the Uchiha felt safe. Comforted by the sensation of phantom arms wrapped around his fragile form, he felt reassured even as the ground rushed up to meet him.

For a second, it made him believe that, though he had fallen, he had not been abandoned.

* * *

A shrill beeping woke him up, the sound driving through his ear drum painfully, chasing away the calming effects of his dream. He jerked away from the sound, shooting upright to begin searching for it, a roaring headache and an angry fox urging him to find it and turn the damn thing off. Sasuke's eyes refused to work, sensitive to the meager light in the room, and he could only grope blindly as he hunted through the bed clothes, careless of the small bodies his hand encountered as the piercing noise continued to assault his skull. 

Then the cacophony ended and the abrupt silence nearly deafened him all over again.

"You set your _alarm_?!" An annoyed voice grumbled with a note of disgust.

"I wanted to see Elmo." Another said sleepily, clearly fighting a yawn. "They changed the show time so it's earlier now."

"But you set it wrong- it's five o'clock! Elmo doesn't start for a while yet!" The first voice complained as they shifted.

"I wanted to get breakfast first." The second person explained simply, ignoring the loud groan from their companion.

_There are people in my bed._ Sasuke cast about in his mind to find the fox where it lay sleeping. He poked the beast to wake it and repeated his statement, taking the beast's venomous glare without batting an eye. He was oddly calm now that his senses were starting to function and raised a hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. His fingers still rebelled, though, and instead Sasuke used his wrist to help clear his vision as he waited for the beast to answer.

_**There are **__**kids**__** in your bed.**_ Kyuubi yawned hugely and settled back to sleep. _**There is a difference, you know.**_

_Aren't kids people to you?_

…_**You are deliberately being a pain in the ass, aren't you? **_The fox growled warningly at his mental form but stopped when it saw that the threat wasn't having any effect. Sasuke just watched the demon without interest, expression vaguely lazy, his eyes heavy-lidded as he tried to fight off his jarring return to reality.

_I don't feel…._ The Uchiha commented, watching curiously as he opened and closed his left hand with ease. His body felt heavy, languid. He felt more relaxed than he had in a very long time.

_**You shouldn't be feeling much. **_Kyuubi said dryly, one giant red eye looking him up and down critically before rolling in exasperation. When he continued to look up at it expectantly, the fox sighed and elaborated. _**They turned down your pain meds to get you to wake up but since I didn't feel like listening to your whining later, I released some endorphins to take the edge off. **_

_So, I'm…high? _Sasuke felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hairline, his eyes widening comically in disbelief before narrowing down in a pale imitation of his usual glare. _I would not have whined._ He grumbled indignantly.

Wait… Just how much of an 'edge' was the fox talking about? He watched his right hand as he flexed it open then pulled it into a tight fist. Sasuke repeated the experiment with his other hand, the one that would barely function and sent little zings of pain up his arm when he moved it. No pain, only the faint sensation of the muscles moving as he directed. Turning his attention outward he realized that his senses were muddled, refusing to focus to their usual refined state. Endorphins or not, if he was attacked, he was a dead man and, dimly, he knew that this was supposed to be worrisome but it only worried him that he could really feel nothing beyond the false sense of calm permeating his mind.

_**Relax, you're fine. **_The fox yawned again and rolled onto its back, wiggling a bit as its feet waved in the air. It giggled then sighed happily, basking as the effects of the painkillers lapped over it as well. _**Don't expect to have any deep thoughts for a while or be your normal observant self, though. Enjoy the buzz while it lasts. Sit back, relax, and don't strain yourself when playing with the kids.**_

_Playing?_

_**Yes. Playing- you know, that thing normal children do? Go have some fun with them, just take it easy. **_The fox yawned pointedly. _**Now scram kid, you bother me.**_

Sasuke watched the fox as it settled, the beast occasionally emitting a giggle. _I had a dream…_ He began slowly, trying to work through his lingering confusion.

Maybe he had imagined it and the dream had all been some delusion but part of him, a very small part, was holding its breath, wondering, desperate to have the impossibility confirmed by the only entity that had the power to do so. He rubbed the scar on his chest unconsciously and, concentrating, he pushed the endorphin rush back and hunted, searching until he found what he wanted. Like broken shards of glass, sharp pieces that would slice open your skin without mercy, his memories, grief and guilt over Naruto's death were still there though everything was currently muted and hazy thanks to the chemicals the fox had sent to percolate through him.

But they were still there and that was what mattered. Handling them gently so he wouldn't get cut even though he knew he would treasure each wound, Sasuke carefully gathered up the scattered pieces and placed them in a mental box labeled with the blonde's name. Later, when he was sober and could feel pain, he would sort through them again and let all those memories shred him to pieces. Later, when he had clarified if his dream was just a hallucination of a wishful fantasy or perhaps something more, would he go through the pile and decide if his promise was worth keeping. Later, he would do these things but not right now.

_I had a dream about Naruto._ The Uchiha said softly, getting back to his original train of thought, fingers still fondling the scar over his heart. The organ felt considerably lighter than it had since his initial waking in the hospital and, as he flashed back to his dream, a small blush settled over his cheeks at the remembered feel of hot hands ghosting over his skin. _I dreamt-_

_**That's it! **_The fox knocked him away with three of its tails, sending him tumbling backwards while it ranted. _**Get out! I'm tired and cranky and will eat you if you keep pestering me!**_ It snapped its jaws for emphasis, flashing canines twice as long as Sasuke was tall.

"Hey!"

Fighting a wave of disorientation, the Uchiha was suddenly dragged back to reality by the new voice and frantic tugging of his sleeve. Blue eyes surrounded by bed tousled blonde hair were suddenly thrust into his vision, dominating it and blocking out everything else in the room, making sure that his focus was on those beautiful eyes.

Getting right up in your face and demanding attention, just like Naruto had always done when they were kids.

Later, Sasuke knew, this comparison would cause him pain, would make his chest tight and his eyes prickled as tears threatened. In fact, the moment he came off his high and was alone, he knew he'd probably break down and cry, his emotions sure to escalate beyond his control as he went through that little box in his mind marked 'Naruto.' With a detached sense of calm, Sasuke decided that the moment this happened, he'd probably have to leave because it seemed very wrong to expose these innocent kids to his mental breakdown.

But, again, all of that was for later when he was without an audience and sure of his sobriety, when he knew if he had given his word to something more than just a figment of his imagination.

"Do you want to come see Elmo with us?" The blonde asked, interrupting his thoughts, the boy's eyes shining with excitement.

_What's an 'Elmo?'_ He asked the demon, knowing it was listening and hoping it might know what the child was referring to.

_**GO WATCH WITH THEM AND FIND OUT!**_ The demon screamed angrily, slamming a metaphysical door in Sasuke's face, sending him firmly back to reality and the children.

With his mind as useless as it currently was, losing himself in some sort of activity probably wouldn't hurt and would help him avoid thinking for a while.

Thinking was doing him no good anyway.

The Uchiha nodded and watched the child smile happily.

"I'm Alex!" The blonde said, pointing to himself first before gesturing to the other body in bed with them, yanking up a pillow to reveal a brunette head. Ignoring his twin's annoyed glare, the blonde leaned close to Sasuke's ear and whispered. "That's Brian- he's a grouch in the morning."

Brian glared at them both and pulled a pillow back over his head.

Grinning, Alex clamored over Sasuke's legs and slid carefully to the floor before grabbing the Uchiha's right hand, pulling until the elder male followed suit. "Come on, Sasu! Let's go watch Elmo!"

_Sasu?_ Sasuke's eye twitched. He stalled the child long enough to untangle himself from his IV and get his feet on the floor before following the child silently, held captive since Alex wouldn't let go of his hand. Brian joined them when they were half way across the room and took Sasuke's left hand, helping the Uchiha balance as the elder stumbled. They made their way out of the room, Alex talking to him in excited whispers about some sort of monster that ate cookies but, since it was a nice monster, such a habit was okay.

The whole conversation, the kids called him by the shortened form of his name when wanting his attention, and, in the back of his head Sasuke distinctly heard the fox roaring with laughter at the whole situation, snorting and giggling harder each time the children butchered his name.

* * *

An 'Elmo,' as it turned out, was a character on a television show named 'Sesame Street.' Sasuke watched the red puppet as it conducted a language lesson in the form of a song, oddly fascinated as the thing then began to carry on a conversation with a remarkably large yellow bird- aptly named Big Bird- and a shaggy brown animal called a 'Sunfflupagus.' 

Sasuke was still trying to figure out exactly what kind of animal the latter was.

On the floor in front of him sat his two little companions, the boys merrily singing along with the bird and Elmo, Snufflupagus swaying in the background in time to the music. Sasuke found the whole thing vaguely hypnotic and so lulling that a small part of him wondered distantly if such an effect had been intentioned by the creators of the show. The kids continued their chorusing, their voices startling him awake since his eyelids kept closing, reminding him to rub the back of the baby he held securely against his chest.

He was currently sitting in a well padded rocking chair, his foot gently pushing against the floor to continue the soothing motion his perch was designed for. On a low table beside him sat a large salad bowl which held the dregs of his soggy cereal, little uneaten star-shaped marshmallows floating in the remaining milk like a miniature galaxy. Initially, he had poked at the blue and pink objects, not sure what to make of them. He'd never been a big cereal fan to begin with, his pallet being sensitive to sugary items, but the kids had convinced him to try it and after one bite he was hooked. Half emptying the box in the process, he'd poured himself a bowl, soaked its contents in milk and had left the kitchen intent on enjoying his breakfast.

After leaving his room, sneaking with exaggerated care past a sleeping Hinata outside the doorway, the trio had gone down to the first floor and raided the kitchen for food. Once that had been accomplished, the kids had guided him through the maze-like corridors until they had reached what the kids called the 'Play Room.'

The room was done in all sorts of bright colors that walked the fine line between being cheerful and garish, none of it matching yet all of it managing to be cohesive in a bizarre manner all its own. Bins of toys lined one wall, the contents ranging from building media to stuffed animals, each labeled and arranged with care on the blue shelving unit they sat on. On the opposite wall was a chalkboard, currently decorated with several drawings of animals, squiggles that he assumed were supposed to be letters and several funny faces in the corners of the slate. The remaining wall space was clear except for a handful of framed paintings, obviously art work made by the children. In the right corner of the room sat a closet, the contents hidden behind closed doors though Sasuke assumed it was being used for further storage of odds and ends not important enough to have their own bin. There was a medium sized TV in the far left corner with a child sized couch positioned in front of it. In a small cabinet beside it sat a multitude of tapes decorated with various colorful characters that Sasuke wasn't familiar with. Once he found out, Alex had wanted to remedy this tragedy of ignorance, fully prepared to give The Uchiha the name and biography of each represented individual but Brian had pointed out that the show they had set off to see was about to begin, effectively rescuing Sasuke from the lecture. The surface Sasuke's bowl sat on had once upon a time been white but now showed signs of prolonged use, marked with crayon and marker, a little basket attached to the side away from where the Uchiha sat filled with bright orange construction paper. The table had red adjustable legs and bench seats, with little cup holders on the side nearest the elder brunette, one of which was occupied holding Sasuke's half full glass of milk.

"Sasu!" Brian stood, left the couch, and climbed up onto the Uchiha's lap, ignoring the muscle twitch by the other's eye. Leaning close, the child placed a kiss on the sleeping baby's head before looking up to continue the conversation in a whisper. "How's Aiko doing?"

Not long after the three had settled down to eat and watch television, they had heard a plaintive wail erupt from a nearby room. Before Sasuke could get up to investigate, the twins had jumped up from their seats and had raced off toward the sound, gesturing for him to sit back down as they left the room. Alex had returned first with his hands over his ears, followed a minute later by Brian who held a bundle in his small arms, walking carefully with his crying cargo into the room. For several minutes, the pair had tried vainly to get the baby to quiet down by cooing gently and playing peek-a-boo, turning to toys when those failed, but the infant would have none of it and continued to cry for attention, little fists grasping at the air as if searching for something.

Eyes and eardrums feeling like they were going to bleed, Sasuke had joined them where they sat on the floor and taken the infant from the boys, frowning at his actions because he had no idea what to do next. Babies, childcare; these were not areas he had experience in and as the infant continued to cry he became extremely aware of this fact. He tried to think of what Naruto would do in such a situation. The blonde had always been good with kids after all and, shoving aside the barely felt ache in his heart, Sasuke tried to entertain the infant by making faces, sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes. He tried to smile but his heart wasn't in it and the baby seemed to sense this, wailing anew in response.

He had handed the baby back to Brian after that, scouring his memories for something, _anything _that could make the child happy. Surely during his childhood his parents had faced such a dilemma when dealing with Sasuke as an infant. What had they done to shut him up? A hazy image of a hand came to mind, the memory nearly completely corroded with time. He tried to bring the mage into focus, concentrating on that hand and the boxy object it was holding out to his small fingers. With a start, he recognized who the hand's owner was.

Armed with an idea borne from the desire to help, swallowing back his instinctive rage at the irony of it all, he had grabbed a piece of the construction paper from the table basket and begun clumsily folding it until finally he had a shape in his hand that resembled a crane.

It was far from perfect but he was years out of practice in origami and his left arm was cramping so badly it was nearly useless, good only as a paperweight to hold the paper in place as he worked. Finished with his mangled masterpiece, Sasuke infused the paper animal with a small amount of chakra, holding it in front of the infant like an offering, wiggling it until he was sure he had her attention.

"Oh wow!" Alex had said, clapping his hands excitedly as the crane began to flap its wings.

The paper bird had moved slowly at first, then with more vigor, wings falling into a rhythm as it pulled free of Sasuke's fingertips. Rising into the air with its neck and beak straightening as it gained altitude, the bird had flown up toward the ceiling to make a complete circle before beginning its descent. Its bright color contrasting sharply with the plain white above, the bird had spiraled down toward the staring children, ending its flight by perching atop Aiko's head.

Sasuke had plucked the bird off the dark downy fuzz on the infant's crown and held it out to her tiny grasping hand. Delighted with her new toy, she had gurgled happily, promptly sticking the paper animal in her mouth to chew on it and ignoring the bird's flapping.

If he'd thought that that would be the end of it, Sasuke had been very wrong.

He'd had to make two more of the birds, one for each of the twins, before he'd been allowed to retreat into his rocking chair. The minimal chakra usage had tired him but before he could relax and recover, Aiko had promptly been placed in his arms- well, right arm anyway- by Brian, the boy pausing long enough to stuff a thick pillow beneath the infant for extra support, before joining his brother on the couch again, the pair giggling at their new 'pets' until the antics of Elmo and friends recaptured the boys' attention. Sighing softly in resignation, Sasuke had been left alone to endure as Aiko grabbed a fistful of his long bangs and pulled, the infant making excited noises as she yanked him around by her saliva-coated hand hold. Only after the baby had fallen asleep had he been able to carefully tug himself free, bits of soggy orange construction paper clinging to the strands in the places where Aiko had sucked on them.

Hoping to keep her slumbering and his out of her hands, Sasuke had been rocking steadily ever since, rubbing her back and concentrating on keeping Aiko warm as she lay on his chest.

Coming back to the present, he simply nodded in the baby's direction, silently indicating that all was well.

_**Why don't you talk to them?**_ The fox rumbled sleepily, poking his mental form with a tail, the rest coiled tightly beside it.

_I don't have anything to say._ He responded simply, shrugging off the tail pressing into his back. _Besides, I don't want to wake the baby._

"Are you okay? You look tired." Brian shifted, the movement bringing Sasuke's attention back to the child. The boy peered up at the Uchiha, the origami bird perched on his shoulder fluttering its wings as the boy shifted again to pull some of the clumps of orange from Sasuke's hair. "Why don't you take a nap? We'll turn the volume down."

From his seat, Alex was looking up at them curiously, head cocked to one side, the crane on the back of the couch next to him doing the same shortly after. "Is he okay?"

"He's tired." Brian informed him before Sasuke could respond. The Uchiha frowned at them both in turn and began to shake his head pointedly but was forced to stop as he yawned. He turned his head to the side to complete the action, not trying to hide it exactly but more to be polite- it was more than likely that his teeth were overdue for a date with a toothbrush and some toothpaste.

"Do you want to go back to your room?" Alex asked when Sasuke faced front again.

Grimacing, the elder brunette shook his head as he thought about the flight of stairs he'd have to climb. Going down hadn't been too bad but then he'd still had more painkillers in his system. Brian, still in his lap, was sitting on his left leg and the child's weight was beginning to make the appendage ache dimly as Sasuke's high began to dissipate. Going back up those stairs would be sheer torture, and, though the Uchiha had had training in how to resist such things, he knew his damaged body and would not be able to ignore the pain enough to make it to the second floor to his room.

Besides, being alone with only his thoughts for company would lead to nothing good; kids or not, having someone to talk to was comforting.

Brian slid off his leg onto the floor slowly so as not to make the chair rock violently and ran out of the room, the crane flying lazily behind him as he left. Minutes later, the child returned carrying a comforter, nearly tripping over a corner of it as the material trailed on the floor. He made his way over to Sasuke, tossing the thick fabric over the elder brunette as Alex left his seat and came to help his brother settle the comforter firmly over Aiko and Sasuke despite the adult's protests. In short order, the Uchiha was tucked in up to his chest, his legs and feet protected completely from any potential drafts in the room.

"Sleep here!" The boys chorused, grinning up at him as their cranes circled overhead and ignoring his scowl. Aiko grunted and shifted in Sasuke's arms, disturbed by their voices, making him glare warningly at the twins.

Relenting as the baby settled, Sasuke sighed again and motioned them back to their couch with his chin. Grinning impishly, the two returned to their seat, changed the television channel and began watching some cartoon called 'Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.'

Though he watched for a little while, the morning's activities soon caught up with Sasuke. Comfortable, warmth seeping into his hurting muscles and easing the ache in his leg, his eyelids gradually grew heavy and Sasuke soon began to doze. His dead weight kept the rocker at a reclined angle, the positioned helping to keep the infant securely against his chest. Feeling strangely safe and unbothered, his head lolled to one side as he fell into a deeper state of sleep.

He didn't wake even when the twins joined him in the rocking chair.

* * *

More's Moment:

First off, apologies for the long wait on the chapter. I had to scrap two other versions of this chapter before I managed to get all the characters to a point that I was comfortable with. I kept writing myself into dead ends or pointless moments and I had to sit back for a bit and mull over what I wanted. Initially, the tone of the chapter was very different, much more heart wrenching and angsty, but I can really only torture Sasuke for so long before I get bored so I decided to go with something more light hearted. That doesn't mean that everything is all going to remain that way, however.

He still hasn't met Andrew.

Thank you one and all for reviewing (hint, hint) since it encourages me to crank out chapters faster. I'll warn you though that the next chapter is going to be a bit in coming- I have three writing projects due within the next two weeks so I have no time to write for fun, on this story or my other one. If, in your boredom, you decide to venture over and check out my other story Bared Naked, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It sounds like the traditional set up but I'm working hard to make sure it isn't.

Thanks everyone and happy tales!


	6. Chapter 6: Eurydice

Disclaimer: I make no form of profit from the usage of the characters from Naruto. I do however get a feeling of satisfaction when my work is read.

Chapter 6: Eurydice

Sundays were supposed to be relaxing days. A time to spend with family, free from the chains that tethered him to work throughout the rest of the week, an entire day devoted to catching up in the events of his children and household. Andrew loved Sundays and the opportunity the rest day brought to simply be a normal family.

Sundays were not supposed to be weird.

Andrew Pryderi stared over the rim of his coffee mug and prayed that the caffeine in the hot black liquid would soon hit his system. Plumes of condensing water vapor rose into the air from both the cup and his mouth, and lazily he watched the pale clouds be swept away by a stiff breeze laden with bright pink petals.

Shivering in the cold sweetly scented air, Andrew wiggled his toes, happy that he had decided to replace his old snow boots a year early and that the new ones were so well insulated. His pajama bottoms, tucked tightly into the top of his boots, kept the nearly knee deep snow away from his skin but the chill still managed to get in through gaps in his hastily donned weather armor, making him wish for the third time in less than a minute that he had pulled on something more than a bathrobe no matter how comfy the damn thing was. Of course, if he'd known what had been waiting for him, he probably wouldn't have come outside at all.

_Not that it was entirely a bad thing,_ He mused, plucking a petal from the air as it drifted by. He slid it between his stiff fingers, trying to find some sort of explanation as he pressed the fragile slip of pink between his fingertips.

It was December, a week before Christmas, and winter had smashed into the north eastern United States with a vengeance. Foot upon foot of snow had fallen over the region, quickly crossing the line between pretty and hazardous as mass transportation took a beating. Trains, planes, and automobiles- all had been affected by the inclement weather, forced to either grind to a crawl or stop all together. Snowplows were running twenty-four hours a day to keep the roadways clear but it still wasn't enough to stop accidents from occurring and Andrew had been forced more than once to listen to his aunt's rant about public service announcements not being able to prevent public stupidity. More and more people were coming into the hospital for treatment after nearly being suffocated while playing in a roadside snow bank. With the plows coming through constantly to push newly accumulated snow off the roadway, it should have been obvious that digging in the high piles would be a bad idea until the snow season let up. Sadly, this was not the case, and so children arrived from far and wide by ambulance, the angry paramedics red with exertion after helping panic-stricken parents dig their children free.

Some kids hadn't been freed in time to prevent brain damage, buried in the tightly packed snow too long because their parents hadn't been paying attention.

That wasn't even considering the multitude of fatal car accidents up and down the roadways, tragedies that could have been avoided if everyone just slowed down to appropriate speeds during the inclement weather season.

"So," Frank said, getting his employer's attention by drawing out the simple syllable into something much longer. "Do you still want the tree cut down?"

Shaking himself and shivering again, Andrew took another sip from his mug and looked over at his second in command, eyebrows in his hairline. "Why? It's pretty."

They both turned back to the tree in question, the source of the pink petal carpet blanketing everything in sight. Despite being out of season, the tree was in full bloom, quite happily defying the normal order of nature and uncaring that it was posing such a quandary for the workmen gathered at its base.

Frank cleared his throat, silently nodding at the tree as a branch began to move independently of its fellows and the wind, the twigs and other offshoots curling to form a rough fist which was shaken at the humans in a threatening manner, particularly at those still holding their cutting instruments. Mr. Hunt turned to his employer, inclining his head toward the scene again as someone began yelling and a branch flashed out to swat the individual on the ass as the man sprinted away from the group.

"And that?" Frank asked dryly, taking a sip from his own coffee cup. The man was fully dressed in his usual three piece suit and looked like a doll fresh from the package, something not affected by paltry matters such as freezing weather or angry trees.

Handing his mug to Frank, Andrew forced his hands to move and cupped them around his mouth as he hollered. "Get away from it! Get away! Leave it alone!"

One had to admit, it was quite the spectacle, a sight that had caused the whole staff to come out and watch. Well, almost. Several of his employees were missing from the impromptu lawn party, though he suspected that most of them were still asleep. Unbidden, his eyes went to the window situated next to the top of the animated tree as he idly wondered if their houseguest was awake courtesy of all the racket going on outside.

As if summoned by the thought, a similar looking individual to the one he'd been musing about half stumbled down the kitchen steps and onto the snow packed pathway. Hikaru, coffee cup in hand and in the same state of dress as Andrew, wandered over to the pair, nearly tripping several times along the way. The man appeared half asleep, removing all doubt when he rested his temple against Andrew's shoulder despite having to lean down to do so. The blonde let him, long since accustomed to such behavior, and took a sip of coffee from the mug Frank handed back to him.

For several minutes the trio just stood there sipping from their respective mugs, watching the workmen back away from the blooming plant as its branches made shooing motions.

"That tree…" Hikaru said slowly, as if processing what he was seeing was taking quite a large amount of limited brain power. The brunette straightened up suddenly and Andrew watched as the other screwed his eyes shut only to blink them open wide.

Hikaru promptly dumped the contents of his cup out onto the snow by his feet. "That's not possible." He stated in a flat voice that broke no argument, quickly slipping into what Andrew had long since dubbed 'professional mode.'

"As always, your opinion is invaluable as are your powers of observation." Frank said dryly before finishing his own mug off, blandly ignoring the glare being shot at him.

"Is this your doing?" The brunette demanded, piercing black eyes boring into Andrew's blue ones suspiciously.

"Nope." The blonde replied with a small shake of his head. He smiled up at the other benignly while Hikaru tried to think through the situation.

"Is he behind this?" He pointed at Frank who merely lifted an eyebrow at the comment, not taking his eyes from the animated tree.

"No." Andrew spoke into the tense silence, dissipating the tension that had appeared when it became apparent that Frank was not going to say anything.

Muscles in his left eye twitching, Hikau turned back to the plant, watching as a branch snatched up the watering can being offered to it by the estate's grounds' keeper. The tree then proceeded to water itself judiciously before beginning the arduous task of ridding both itself and the ground around its base of snow.

Silence stretched between them for a few seconds.

"Doesn't anyone find anything wrong with this picture?!" Hikaru all but screamed, gesturing wildly at the tree. He was panting, his breath fogging out in great clouds as he did so, and Andrew casually reminded the new-comer not to get so excited. The man looked like he was going to hyperventilate.

"Not get excited? Not get excited?!" Hikaru took the blond by the collar of his bathrobe and shook him before leaning down to look the smaller male in the eye as he continued the tirade. "Andrew, there is a freaking _tree _over there in full bloom _**grooming itself**_!"

Using the other's chin as a hand hold, he turned Andrew's face in the direction of the object of discussion, pausing long enough to watch as it gave itself a shake to dislodge dead branches which the waiting grounds' keeper raked up and added to a large neat pile nearby.

"And…?" Andrew turned back to be nose to nose with his brother-in-law, completely unperturbed.

"That is NOT normal! How can you be so damn blasé…" Hikaru seemed to deflate and he let the blonde go, smoothing the ruffled clothing in a habitual manner. The brunette took one last look at the tree before scrubbing his face with his hands and covering his eyes. "Oh my God, it's too early for this."

"It's nine in the morning." Frank reminded him.

"Like I said, it's too early for this, especially after having been woken up at three."

"Where are you going?" Andrew asked as the other turned toward the house and began to head in its direction.

"I'm going to check on my daughter and then go back to sleep." Hikaru sighed loudly, glancing again at the tree. He shook his head. "I'm obviously not ready to be out of bed yet."

"He took that better than I thought he would." Frank murmured, once the brunette had disappeared inside. "Hikaru never does handle surprises well."

Andrew scratched the back of his head, grinning over at his assistant sheepishly. "I would have warned him if I'd known he would be up."

"It's Sunday." The silver haired man shrugged, as if that explained everything that was going to happen today.

Andrew sighed loudly, watching the petals in the air drift around like a second snow fall. He again looked up at the window near the top of the tree before letting his gaze drift back down to the trail of small footprints leading from the kitchen door to the tree. From there he briefly landed on the tangled heap of branches that the ground's keeper was currently hauling away.

The blonde finished his coffee, sighed, and glanced over at his assistant with a large grin. Ignoring the suspicious eyebrow raised in his direction, he gestured with his chin back toward the house and the way Hikaru had gone.

"I think it's time we go find the boys."

* * *

"Well there goes that theory." The blonde grumbled, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose while the other rubbed his temple as he leaned against the door jam of the currently empty room. The bed had been slept in, he knew, because the covers were rumbled in more disarray than even the most restless sleeper could accomplish. Providing further evidence that Andrew's theory hadn't completely been far fetched were several articles of clothing strewn about the floor near the window that were much too small to ever fit Sasuke.

Shoes, two sets of small boots to be exact. They had been thrown willy-nilly, as if taken off in a hurry and left to roam. There was not just one jacket but two, a red one and a pale blue one, both made for winter wear and slightly damp from recent use. Frank had found a backpack leaning against the bed which Andrew recognized as the one Brian always carried around on day trips, the ownership concretely confirmed when he opened it and found the boy's ever present digital camera inside. Sighing, the blonde scrolled through the images, scanning the photographs quickly as they appeared on the LCD screen.

He really was going to have to do something about his twins' obsession with Sasuke.

Then again, from day one the kids had had a weird fascination for him. They had been the ones who had discovered when he began to show signs of returning to consciousness from his vegetative state. The two had spent copious amounts of time in the brunette's room while he laid comatose, playing card games or chess as they lounged on the bed and talked to both each other and Sasuke. There had never been any doubt in the twins' minds that he would wake up, the boys insisting that it was just a matter of time despite what Mary or Andrew said otherwise, and so the two had made it a point to spend as much time with Sasuke as possible. It had driven Sam crazy trying to make them stay by his side when at the hospital since the moment he wasn't looking they would disappear to go 'hang out,' as the pair termed it, with Sasuke.

Andrew had been sure that he would find them here, curled up with each other as they kept the older brunette company and though the blonde knew indisputably that they had all been there earlier, the question still remained about where everyone was _now_.

"I'm- I'm sorry!" Hinata stammered, the young woman near tears as she tried to gather her wits. The poor girl had been asleep in a chair outside the room and looked it as she stood stiffly in her rumpled suit. "I'm- I just… Only for a minute..!"

Andrew blinked at her slowly, trying to process what she was getting at in her jumbled apology. Then he smiled good-naturedly and patted her shoulder as he turned fully toward her. "It's okay, Hinata. This is my fault anyway- I should have remembered that you were coming off a double shift when I asked you to look after him."

"Oh, no, Sir!" Hinata said, standing as straight as an arrow. "This is my fault, not yours!"

Seeing that this was going to degenerate into a pointless argument, Frank stepped in between them. "As entertaining as this is, we still have to find them all before Sam gets back and has an aneurism."

Which all three knew was entirely possible given how high strung and frantic the man seemed to get every time his charges went missing.

Andrew checked his watch. "It's nine thirty on a Sunday morning. If I were a six year old with a new friend, where would I be?"

"Andrew!" Hikaru's yelling effectively curtailed the blonde's musings. The tall brunette was absolutely furious, taking the stairs two at a time in his haste to reach the second floor. He strode- stomped- over to his brother-in-law, grabbed the blonde and began dragging the other toward the stairway.

"You should have _told_ me!" The brunette hissed once they were on the first floor. He didn't stop even when Andrew stumbled, opting instead to simply drag the blonde back to his bare feet as they continued down the hallways toward the kids' area, nearly popping Andrew's shoulder from the socket. "You should have warned me that _he_ was here, that you brought him here! What were you thinking exposing our kids to…?!"

They finally came to a stop outside the play room and Hikaru gave the blonde a rough shake before finally releasing him. The brunette balled his fists at his sides briefly but then gently pushed open the door to expose the little group inside.

The TV was on, the volume low, the appliance the only source of illumination in the room since the overhead lights weren't on. Andrew spotted several empty bowls on the kids' work table, raising an eyebrow when he spotted one of the largest salad serving dishes in the kitchen among the collection. Overall, the room had been left in its usual tidy state, relatively untouched, save for those exceptions and some sort of orange paper creations on the back of the boys' couch. Andrew was about to ask the tall brunette what the hell his problem was when the blonde spotted it.

_"I'll miss this when they're older." _His wife had sighed sadly then, nuzzling the small tufts of dark hair just beginning to cover Brian's head. She had done the same to Alex's golden sprinkling seconds after before placing a kiss on each baby's forehead and adjusting them so that all three were comfortable as she rocked them all gently.

"_One day they'll be too big to hold. But in the mean time," _The exhausted bags under her eyes had been pronounced since she'd spent all night soothing the newborns and he had worried after her then to go get some sleep. But the new mother had simply given him one of her mischievous smiles as she cuddled further under the blanket draped around her. _"I'm fine here. I want them to know that I'll hold them for as long as they want no matter what age they are."_

As they'd grown up, mother and children had spent most of their time in such a fashion, the three spending copious amounts of time wrapped in a blanket in the rocking chair as Suki told them stories about far off lands. Some of the tales were real and about her travels abroad, but most were make-believe, well known fairy tales from all across the globe, stories that she had learned and memorized while getting her degree in literature. The boys had grown up on her stories and had inherited her love of the magic of reading, devouring books almost as fast as their mother. Andrew had been proud about it, had been a very proud father knowing that while most kids their age were sitting in front of the television playing video games for hours on end, his boys were exercising their imaginations, creating their own entertainments and learning skills that would one day put them leaps and bounds above their peers

Coming back to the present with a jerk, Andrew swallowed the lump in his throat, shaking his head to dispel the memory and the ache in his heart.

Silently, he padded over to the rocking chair and looked down at the sleeping forms of his sons, his baby niece, and their new houseguest, all tucked in and cuddled under what appeared to be the comforter from Brian's bed. Sasuke was holding Aiko with his right arm and Andrew wondered if the brunette's left arm was still weak, spotting the appendage in question hanging limply around Brian's shoulders as the boy lay sprawled on the same side. Alex had positioned himself right in the middle and lay happily sleeping against the elder brunette's mid-chest, his forehead nearly touching his brother's. Sasuke's chin rested on his upper chest, head bowed, his face obscured by his hair as he slept and Andrew could hear him making slight grunting noises as he slept. Spotting the remote for the TV, the blonde picked it up and hit the off button before walking over to the entertainment center and setting the remote down on top of the set. Sensing Hikaru fuming silently nearby, Andrew returned to the rocking chair and very carefully removed the infant from Sasuke's hold, gently returning the month old to her anxiously awaiting father. As Hikaru settled the infant, Andrew turned back to the chair and resettled the comforter, watching with some surprise as the fingers of Sasuke's right hand began to twitch as if hunting for something. Using the wrist as a hand hold, Andrew gently guided Sasuke's searching hand to Alex's back, watching as the fingers stilled again. The blonde then moved so that he was looking down over the back of the rocking chair and the blue-black hair that he absently noted needed to be washed.

He reached forward and cradled the dark head, gently tilting it backward to reveal a pale face with features so heartbreakingly familiar that they made his hands shake slightly and his heart twist painfully. The blonde's thumb ghosted over a discolored spot on the brunette's cheekbone, rubbing the slightly swollen area in an effort to both impart comfort and check for serious damage. Unable to stop himself, Andrew checked the other damaged areas, palpating each bruise carefully, knowledgeable fingers hunting for deeper injuries that could be hidden by the soft tissue and muscle surrounding the bone structure.

_"Ow, Honey!"_ Andrew, his fingers stilling instantly, nearly jumped as the memory surfaced, triggered by the familiar situation. _"I know you know what you're doing but be a bit gentler!"_

_"You take getting the snot beaten out of you by your own stunt team without a sound but you immediately begin whining the moment __**I **__touch you? Is there something you want to tell me?"_ He'd been incredulous and had stared at her as she tried to pull off her trade mark smirk with an oozing split lip. She had done it but not without a visible wince.

_"Action sequences always carry a risk. I'm not good at them and wasn't paying attention. This is my fault so I can't get angry at them."_

He remembered thinking that as her husband _he_ certainly could get angry at the stunt men, and seriously debated it as he looked over the fresh bruises adorning his wife's beautiful face. She was still gorgeous, there was no way to hide that despite how marred her skin was, but it was a different type of beauty than the norm. A black eye, a split lip and a myriad of bruises… It had transformed her usual sex appeal into something dangerous, something more predatory in nature. By the wicked twinkle in her dark eyes and the knowing upward curve of her swollen lips, Suki had realized this just as well as Andrew, the idea confirmed when she casually leaned forward to begin whispering naughty little suggestions in his ear about what they could do together once she was done with the shoot and they were alone.

Again, Andrew shook his head, trying hard to ignore the sudden hot rush running through his frame that made his mouth dry and his pajama bottoms tight. He forced the thoughts away by berating himself for inappropriate behavior, happy when his body calmed enough to let him concentrate and finish the examination of his new patient. Though most of the damage had healed, the pummeling that had Sasuke had taken was still evidenced on the pale skin in the form of dark bruises, most noticeably on the brunette's forehead and jaw. Nothing felt broken, despite the coloration, which was good and Andrew let his attention wander to other potential problems.

Fingers pressed firmly over Sasuke's carotid artery, Andrew leaned down and listened to the brunette draw breath, mildly concerned. The younger male was rasping as he breathed, the air seeming to drag as it flowed into his lungs but the pulse under the blonde's fingertips was steady and normal.

_A cold?_ Andrew wondered, tilting his blond head to the side as he placed a hand lightly on Sasuke's chest. He felt the muscles expand and contract for several seconds before finally taking his hand away and straightening.

"Hi, Daddy." Alex whispered, raising up from where he lay against Sasuke's chest. The child blinked sleepily up at his father and rubbed his eyes as he tried to wake up.

"Good morning sleepy head." Andrew smiled and ruffled the child's hair. "Why are you all sleeping in here and not in your rooms?"

Alex blinked and glanced at Sasuke before holding both arms out to his father. Andrew complied, moving so that he could lift the child up easily, a wry smile touching his lips. Once the child was settled in his arms, Andrew took them out into the hall so that they could speak freely.

"Now," Andrew said, giving his son a light affectionate bounce. "What have you two been up to? Why is Sasuke down here and why is Aiko out of her crib?"

Alex blinked at him blankly, giving him wide innocent eyes.

Not buying the act for a second, Andrew set the child on the floor and knelt down to look Alex in the eyes. "I know you two went out side to get into Sasuke's room and that you climbed the tree there to get in. I _forbade_ you two to go near that tree because it was dangerous! You also know that you are supposed to remain inside because the cold air aggravates your asthma." Even as he said it, he was checking his son for signs of respiratory distress.

Alex pushed his hands away, clearly irritated. "I'm okay, Dad! My chest hurt a little before but when I woke up it was better. Hey! Do you really have to cut down that tree?"

Andrew felt his eyebrows shoot into his hairline at the anxiously voiced question. "Why? What's wrong with the tree?"

The boy fidgeted and bit his lip, worry clear in his bright blue eyes as he regarded his father. He looked down at the floor. "You're going to think I'm being silly…"

A light went on in Andrew's mind and his curiosity couldn't let the hunch go. "Alex, tell me, did the tree…move when you climbed it?"

Since his father already seemed to know what had taken place and appeared as if he was just seeing if Alex was going to tell the truth, the six year old confessed. He left no detail out concerning their adventure outside and was relieved when his father seemed to take him seriously when he talked about the tree coming to life and saving him. Alex then told him about their morning, about getting breakfast and watching Elmo, concluding the tale with how Aiko had come to be in Sasuke's care. The boy however left out the part about the new 'pets' Sasuke had made for the children, thinking that his slightly pale father needed a break from any further inexplicable details.

"Well," Andrew said at length, blinking as he absorbed it all. "It does sound as if you all have had a busy day."

"Daddy, you aren't going to make Sasuke go away, are you?" Alex asked suddenly, becoming solemn.

Taking aback by the unexpectedly serious turn in the conversation and by his son's shift in demeanor, Andrew blinked. "Why are you asking me that? Do you know something I don't?"

The last was said in a teasing manner but it made Alex tense and worry his bottom lip again, young eyes pensive and anxious.

"You do know something." Andrew stated quietly, watching his son nod slowly. "Is it a feeling?" Again Alex nodded. "Does Brian have it too?" Another nod and Andrew blew air out in a rush through his nose. "Did… did…"

He couldn't ask the final question, didn't have the heart to voice it, and so let it go unvoiced.

"I'll make you a deal." Andrew said, standing and taking the child into his arms once more. "Sasuke can stay here as long as he obeys the rules of the house." _And doesn't hurt anyone_,he added silently.

"Can we sleep in his room?"

"Why do you want to sleep in his room?" Andrew asked, though he had a sneaking and awful suspicion why. After all, Sasuke and Suki shared an extraordinary similarity in appearance and, for a child with a missing mother, it would only be natural to harbor a desire to be close to a surrogate. He found it odd, though, that his boys had attached themselves to a stranger rather than a family member; Hikaru looked nearly identical to Suki and had been known to the children since birth. He was also currently living in the house with them and if the kids had needed someone to remind them of their mother in her absence during times when Andrew himself wasn't able to fit the bill, he would have bet money that the twins would have sought their uncle out for comfort.

But none of that had happened; Suki had disappeared and shortly there after Sasuke had been found, the twins instantly taken with the comatose male with little to no surprise of the brunette's sudden appearance.

Looking back on it and the boys' behavior, one could almost draw the conclusion that the twins had been _expecting_ Sasuke…

"Because we want to keep him company." Alex said, derailing Andrew's strange train of thought. "We don't want him to be lonely."

"Hinata will keep him company." Andrew said. "She'll be looking after him while he recuperates. You know he's still hurt right?" At Alex's nod he continued in a whisper, taking them back inside the play room. "So until he's better, you can't play with him too roughly. Hinata will be with him a lot so when you're with Sasuke you need to listen to her, you got me?"

"But can we sleep with him?" Alex whispered anxiously, making Andrew frown in confusion over his son's insistent question.

"Not at night." Andrew allowed, knowing his son was not implying anything sexual but still confused and frowning because of the feeling. "You three can nap together during the day but that's it for now."

"I can't believe you!" Hikaru hissed at him, stepping close to the two blondes as they neared him. The tall brunette turned back to the now fussing infant in his arms and tried to sooth her. "How could you bring him here without telling anyone? Into your home? Into _her_ home? It's a scam, I'm telling you. Sickos do this all the time to grieving families, taking advantage…"

Andrew bit back the scathing retort he wanted to say, telling himself that Hikaru was entitled to his own opinion. The man had a right to be angry about this since Andrew, knowing how close the siblings were, **hadn't** given Hikaru any advanced warning about the idea of moving Sasuke- a dead ringer for his wife and the other male's missing sister- into the house. _Even though, technically, it is __**my**__ house and I should be able to do anything I damn well want in it.__And Suki isn't dead, damn it, so there isn't anything to grieve about!_

He kept his comments to himself, silently fuming, unable to voice any of them due to rationalized empathy. Besides, the kids were in the room.

"He is NOT a sicko!" Alex shouted indignantly, angry voice echoing in the confines of the room and making Hikaru wince visibly as the baby began to fuss again. "Don't call him that! And mommy is _missing_, not dead!"

Sasuke made a small noise then, drawing attention to himself while his eyelids fluttered warningly that he was rousing. Unable to help himself, Andrew stopped scolding Alex about indoor voice usage and peered down at the brunette, watching as a pink tongue slipped out to wet chapped lips while dark lashes parted to reveal equally dark unfocused eyes.

Alex said something then, speaking in that cute made-up language the twins and their mother used when talking privately to each other. Andrew knew only a few words of it but got the gist of what his son was saying. Though it was nice that the twins were trying to include Sasuke into their little world, Andrew didn't really see the point in using such a language to reassure Sasuke since no one outside Brian or Suki would understand what the boy was saying. But the thought was there all the same and it made Andrew smile.

"It's alright." Andrew murmured to the brunette, looking down into Sasuke's eyes. The newly roused sleeper seemed to be having trouble fully waking; his eyes kept almost focusing, the pupils contracting briefly before dilating fully again and his lids kept trying to shut of their own accord. Oddly, the blonde got the impression that Sasuke was fighting- unsuccessfully- against something that wouldn't let him become fully alert.

Fearing a complication from surgery, Andrew set Alex down and quickly checked Sasuke's pulse again, smiling down into those dark eyes as he leaned close to listen to the brunette's breathing. With a quick apologetic grimace, Andrew pushed the comforter down and, ignoring Brian who still lay asleep inches away, pulled Sasuke's pajamas out of the way to take a cursory perusal at the stitched incision over the brunette's lower abdomen. Satisfied with what he found, Andrew put Sasuke's clothing back to rights and straightened up, pausing.

"What's up with his eyes?" Hikaru leaned over Andrew's shoulder and peered down at Sasuke's suddenly off color eyes, nearly obscuring the blonde's view altogether.

"They're red." Andrew said, quietly amazed. The brunette's eyes weren't just red; the irises also had black, comma shaped specks in them. Sasuke's eyes closed again, the brunette's head lolling to the side as the younger male once again slipped into unconsciousness and Andrew forced one eye open, examining the orb closely, openly puzzled when he could find no trace of the strange pigmentation in the now dark sphere.

Brow knitted in confusion, Andrew straightened up and scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of a logical reason for such an occurrence. He soon gave up though; everything about Sasuke was a mystery so what was one more? Still, there were more questions than answers concerning the mysterious male and Andrew realized belatedly- with no small amount of irritation- that Sasuke being asleep again meant that they couldn't get any information out of him.

Rubbing his temples and suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape his lips, the blonde suggested that they all leave for now and go get some breakfast. He opted to leave Brian and Sasuke where they were for the moment; the smells of a hearty breakfast would wake Brian faster than anything Andrew could try and, since he knew from personal experience that Brian would be less than subtle about obtaining his share of the meal, it was a safe bet that Sasuke would be forced to follow shortly there after.

The blonde waited until the others had left the room before bending down and positioning his elbows on either side of the dark head below him.

"Where's my wife?" Andrew asked him, speaking softly so as not to wake Brian prematurely. Blue eyes ghosted over the familiar yet not familiar planes, noting several faint scars here and there that had never been on his wife's face. "Who are you and why do you look so much like her?"

Raspy breathing greeted him but he had expected as much. Andrew would wait for now, would allow things to progress at Sasuke's pace and see if that gave him any information about Suki's whereabouts. A few days, maybe a week… Enough time to let the brunette settle in and relax before the interrogation began. The blonde could be incredibly patient when he had to be when waiting for an investment to pay out.

He just hoped Sasuke didn't make him wait _too_ long since everyone's patience ran out eventually, even Andrew's. When that happened, it was the blonde's temper that took over and many people had learned the hard way not to ever repeat the resulting experience.

Sasuke would tell Andrew what he wanted to know, one way or another.

Slipping his hands into the pockets of his bathrobe, the blonde turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

* * *

More's Moment:

Gah! At long last, another chapter! Anyway, as promised, I am returning back to the Greek mythos hinted at by the title. Speaking of themes, don't be surprised if you see reoccurring ones here and there- I promise that I'm not recycling material, I'm just making a point.

I was really rather nervous about this chapter. I'm trying to walk that fine line between giving out the information you as a reader need to know in order to make sense of the story but at the same time I don't want to give out to much information and ruin the plot. This ought to give everyone an idea where I am going yet hopefully not reveal all the twists this plot is going to take. Then I remembered that this is chapter number six and knew everyone deserved some answers; if I keep playing it so close to the chest I'll ruin the story anyway.

Getting back to the title of this chapter, Eurydice is the name of Orpheus' wife. For those of you who are familiar with Greek mythology, or even the Sandman comics by Neil Gamen, the name Orpheus should be ringing some bells…er, I mean, plucking some strings. In the book I'm using for information, Eurydice herself only has a small paragraph telling her tale while in other books she's only mentioned in passing (as Orpheus' wife), much to my regret. Oddly, the Sandman books have a whole arch relating back to the Orpheus/Eurydice tale which gives the reader a nice idea both visually and emotionally about how everything happened and the subsequent fall out for Orpheus. If you happen to know which volume the tale occurs in in the series, please feel free to leave it in a review for anyone who may want to do their own research since I have no idea any more what the name of the volume is.

Anyway, the long and the short of it is, Eurydice dies via snake bite after trying to escape from this guy who is attempting to molest her. Distraught, Orpheus travels to the underworld to try and gain her freedom. Along the way, Orpheus uses his musical talents to accomplish his goal, making many enemies along the way. After a lot of discussion, Orpheus manages to make a deal with Hades, a bet if you will: Eurydice can leave Tartarus under the condition that, on their way out, Orpheus does not look back at his wife until they reach the land of the living.

I'll try and be more timely with my updates but I honestly don't think it's going to happen. I have a relative who is really sick and the family is preparing for the worse while school is getting infuriatingly difficult. Can you say, fifteen page research paper?

Please leave a review: I love to hear everyone's theories and sometimes they give me inspiration and ideas for later.

Happy tales everyone!


	7. Chapter 7: A Heart's Desire

Disclaimer: I make no profit from these stories or from the usage of the 'Naruto' characters. Also, please do not use this story as a medical guide in any way. No, seriously- I know someone, somewhere will try it and, though I am attempting to be realistic, I am not a healthcare professional. If you are injured, see a doctor immediately.

Chapter Seven: A Heart's Desire 

Sasuke stared at the image presented in the mirror, watching the people in the room beyond. The smooth reflective glass was in the perfect placement as it hung off the hall closet door, allowing the Uchiha an unobstructed view into the occupied kitchen area from his position several feet away while remaining hidden in the darkened hall. It felt as if something was shredding the insides of his chest, making the area ache and pulse with agony, the sensation gaining in strength as the moments stretched on.

But despite the pain he couldn't look away, his eyes trained on the tall blonde male chatting away with those seated at the table around him.

"You can go in." Brian whispered, his little hand giving the elder brunette's trembling one a reassuring squeeze. "There's plenty of food but if you're not hungry you don't have to eat anything."

The child gestured at the mirror and Sasuke pulled his eyes away from Naruto's look-alike long enough to note that several chairs at the table were unoccupied. Part of him also noted the other doppelgangers lounging in the large kitchen, unconsciously filing the faces away for later review, before his gaze fastened on the blonde again.

_Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!_ The name repeated over and over in his head, becoming a mantra that eventually degenerated into just one long syllabic rhythm looping over and over in his head. The sight of his former teammate ripped open the box in Sasuke's mind labeled with the blonde's name, flooding his consciousness with a stream of blurred memories both painful and comforting. The dual sensations scrambled the brunette's ability to form coherent thought, consuming him with a deep-seated yearning that nearly suffocated him as a vice-like grip wrapped itself around his heart and strangled the organ.

His body ached from the longing suddenly assaulting him, the emotion urging his feet toward the room and the blonde male there in like physical force.

However… Something was wrong with this picture. Something about the whole scenario just screamed out of place and Sasuke knew that if he had been in his right mind he would have been able to spot it instantly. Overloaded with emotions, the sensations making him shake and twitch as he continued to stare, Sasuke couldn't think past the fact that Naruto was in the room beyond, living and whole only a few feet away.

All Sasuke had to do was shuffle forward around the doorway and he'd be able to touch his friend again, to hug the blond and never let go, and he wanted to do so more than anything except… Except…

He couldn't make his feet move.

"It's okay." Brian was saying quietly. The boy had taken two steps ahead of Sasuke and was tugging the arm in his grip like a lead rope in an effort to goad him forward.

Sasuke's gaze settled on the mirror once more and he took a step backward instead, panic and icy fear inexplicably spiking through him, drowning out the other emotions rioting inside him.

"I can't." He whispered and sharply tugged his hand free of the child's grasp. The elder brunette took a few more steps backward, distancing himself from the scene and the child as he withdrew. He hadn't been spotted yet, he could still slip away unnoticed.

"But it's okay!" Brian whispered, looking distressed as Sasuke retreated back the way the two had come. "You're invited, Sasu!"

Though he didn't miss the note of desperation in the child's voice, he ignored it as if he hadn't heard it. He made a shooing motion with his right hand, his left useless since it was convulsing again at his side. "You go."

Brian continued to stand there staring at him, dismayed. He looked back at the doorway leading into the kitchen then back at Sasuke. The child squared his small shoulders and began following Sasuke resolutely.

"No!" The Uchiha hissed angrily, making the startled child stop halfway to him. "You go eat. I'm not hungry."

His stomach was churning so badly, he was afraid he was going to be sick right then and there. He had to get out of here, had to get away from Naruto and the happy people in that room. The urge to flee, to run screaming from everyone and everything was overwhelming and Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, abruptly light headed. Grimacing, he tangled his good hand in his hair and tugged it sharply, using the pain as a distraction to the growing maelstrom inside him.

"I can't." Sasuke said as the child's mouth opened to speak. He tried to swallow the choking lump in his throat and couldn't; when he spoke again his voice cracked, making him sound as if he was in the midst of some form of brutal torture. "I just… I can't!"

He fled before Brian could reply, turning around and limping until he could disappear around a corner. Barely managing to navigate around objects against the hallway walls, he limped along the corridors as he hunted for the stairs that would take him to the second floor. He couldn't see straight anymore as spots danced before his eyes, his body cramping in protest as he forced it to move. Blinking rapidly to chase back the grey trying to eat his vision, Sasuke found a staircase and climbed it, ignoring the flares of pain from his left leg as he did so. Once upstairs, he leaned against a wall as he gasped for air, looking around until he could spot the familiar open doorway.

Sasuke shut the door firmly behind him when he finally found his room, leaning his back against the dark wood as his chest heaved. He couldn't seem to get enough air, couldn't breathe as his heart struggled to pump enough blood to keep him upright. Head pounding, he rubbed at a spot on his sleep shirt, massaging the ridge of scar tissue marring his chest in an effort to ease the ache of the organ working so hard beneath his fingertips. It wasn't working and just then his attention was forcibly diverted to his stomach as the churning sensation he'd been fighting off became full blown nausea; he clapped a hand over his mouth and hurried to the bathroom, barely made it to the toilet in time to prevent being sick all over the floor.

As if vomiting in itself was not sufficient punishment, Sasuke's fragile form was wracked by a violent coughing fit afterwards. Already on his knees from worshipping the porcelain god, he didn't have far to fall as he was forced to the floor, doubled over from the intensity of the attack. With one final disgusting sound, the Uchiha was able to breathe relatively normally again even if he did feel as if he was sucking air through a straw. Curled on his side on the bathmat, Sasuke panted, emotionally and physically exhausted, waiting for the roaring in his skull to die down. Unwise as it may be, the moment he could do so he forced himself upright, shaky legs reinforcing the thought that this was a bad idea.

Ignoring the warning, Sasuke went about flushing the toilet's contents away and cleaning himself up. He shed his pajama top, the article now sweat-soaked and stained with both flecks of regurgitated cereal and crimson streaked sputum, and ran a damp washcloth over his upper body until he felt marginally cleaner.

Slinging the soiled articles of cloth into the bathtub, he pulled a hand towel from the rack near the sink and began half-heartedly wiping his skin dry as he leaned heavily against the bathroom doorway, shaking.

Distantly, he hoped that whoever had to do the laundry later decided not to examine the stains on the washrag too closely. The idea to strip completely reared its head and, though he agreed it would be a good way to cool down his suddenly overheated skin, the Uchiha decided against it since it would require him to actually move from his precarious position. Instead he let his head fall forward until his chin rested on his chest and examined the newest injury to his body, eyeing the carefully placed peeling padding with distaste.

_I don't remember this wound. _The thought was an effort to distract himself as the panic he'd almost been able to forget resurfaced with a vengeance and began trying to claw its way out of his chest. Purging his breakfast had helped only marginally to restore some form of control but now even that was eroding away under his emotional distress.

_Kyuubi? _Swallowing with difficulty, the brunette concentrated and reached out to the fox, looking for a measure of comfort from his parasitic companion; even if the demon refused to talk to him, Sasuke would still be able to feel the other's presence and that in itself would be reassuring.

Except he couldn't find Kyuubi -for what ever reason, the fox just wasn't there

_-Sasuke?-_

His head shot up instinctively at the sound of his name, hunting for the owner of the painfully familiar voice desperately until he found the blonde sitting on his bed.

The brunette heard himself whimper at the sight of the transparent grinning figure because, down to the tiniest detail, it looked _exactly_ like Naruto. Same whisker marks on tanned cheeks. The same beautiful hair tousled carelessly above impossibly blue eyes. Same shit-eating grin from when they were younger, the one that always meant mischief wasn't far behind.

It was his him- his beautiful Naruto sitting not five feet away on Sasuke's rumpled sheets.

"You're not real." Sasuke said hoarsely, throat dry. He clutched the door jamb with his right hand, the wood cracking under his fingers while his body trembled and his knees threatened to buckle. By his waist, his useless left arm practically danced as the muscles went ballistic, the resulting pain racing up and down his entire left side, forcing him to cling to the doorframe for support.

The phantom blonde frowned at him briefly before patting the space next to it with a shy grin. _–Come sit with me so we can talk.-_

"I can't." Sasuke sobbed out, voice breaking as he turned his face into the wood to hide eyes burning from unshed tears. "Don't do this."

_-Please come sit with me?-_

The lump in his throat threatened to strangle him and the Uchiha wondered if he could make the hallucination go away if he hid in the bathroom.

_-I'll come in after you, don't think I won't, teme!-_ The phantom growled, the sound alone enough to make the brunette bare one eye and watch as the image uncrossed its arms. It stood and took a few steps toward him but paused when Sasuke nearly tripped over his own feet while retreating into the bathroom.

"I can't do this!" His voice was a choked whisper, harsh and thick with all the emotions trying to claw their way out of his throat. He couldn't think, every thought sent running by the presence just a few feet away, the thundering of his own heart incredibly loud as the sound echoed inside his skull. Sasuke was completely incapacitated…

His eyes snapped open as he released his death grip on the door frame and forced his fingers to form a hand sign, realization crashing down around him.

Genjutsu! It had to be- no other explanation for what was happening made any sense. In his race to rescue Naruto someone had snagged him in an illusion either during his escape from Sound or during his mission to rescue Naruto. The insight helped restore a bit of balance in his mind, helped him push back the emotional maelstrom raging inside him and _think._

His mental prison was extremely elaborate for a genjutsu and someone had obviously put a lot of effort into making the cast of the illusion and sequence of events believable, more so than any other genjutsu Sasuke had ever encountered. Such lengths could only mean that whoever had used the jutsu was desperate to make Sasuke believe in it which meant- and here his heart gave an excited leap at the thought- that there was still a high chance that Naruto was still alive! Someone did not want him to interrupt the Akatsuki ceremony, someone desperate enough try and trap the Sharingan wielder in some nightmare fantasy.

No matter which way he looked at it, everything added weight to Sasuke's theory that Naruto was alive and still the Kyuubi's vessel.

He had to hurry; there was no way to know for sure how much time had passed since he'd been ensnared in the illusion. If the ceremony had already begun he could literally only have seconds to save his favorite dobe.

Hope gave him the strength to stand under his own power and Sasuke did so proudly as determination flooded through him in a powerful rush. He would save Naruto; he would rescue the blonde, kill Itachi, pour his heart out to the dobe, and let the chips fall as they may. Sasuke was going to save his former teammate and no stupid genjutsu was going to stop him.

With a sneer at the phantom that was now looking at him with an expression akin to pity, Sasuke gathered his chakra, shut his eyes and dispelled the illusion with a word. "Kai!"

* * *

"Hey, Brian!" Andrew greeted, smiling as his son entered the kitchen and walked over. The smile became a frown as he took in his son's dejected expression. "What's up Buddy? What happened for you to make such a face?"

"Where's Sasuke?" Alex asked before Brian could answer.

There was a rude grunt from Hikaru as the tall brunette entered the room, Aiko in his arms. He took his seat at the far end of the table, lips pressed into a thin line as he watched them all through narrowed eyes from across the table.

Andrew shot him a look before turning back to his obviously distressed son.

"What happened?" The blonde asked softly, running a hand through Brian's soft hair as the child took the empty seat beside him.

Brian's lower lip trembled and he looked at the floor before continuing. "He said he wasn't hungry and left. I don't think he felt too good."

From further down the table, Hinata- now fully caffeinated- pushed her chair back and rose while dusting the last remaining crumbs of her toast from her hands. "I'll go check on him."

"You need sleep." Andrew said firmly. "I'll go check on him…"

Hinata shook her head. "Once I get Sasuke settled, Neji can take over guard duty while I sleep. It shouldn't take long."

Neji, sitting beside his sister, grunted around the mouthful of cereal he was currently chewing and frowned. Before he could voice his objection however, Hinata had patted his shoulder and left.

"Besides," Frank spoke up, arching his eyebrows at the blonde before looking down at the children beside him. "You guys should spend the day playing together. Unlike the twins, Andrew, you still have a few more days of work to get through before you can officially take your Christmas vacation."

"That reminds me," Andrew wiggled his eyebrows at his suddenly anxious sons, bringing their attention from watching Hinata leave back to him. "Have you two thought about where you want to go for New Year's? There's lots of snow here so how about somewhere warm, hm? We could go down to Orlando again or maybe down to the Keys this time?"

The twins glanced at one another before Alex answered. "We haven't thought about it but the beach sounds good."

"Are we big enough to swim with the dolphins?" Brain inquired, eyes suddenly bright with excitement about the prospect.

"Yeah Dad!" Alex chimed in. "Are we?"

Andrew blinked and laughed, standing suddenly as he seized on the distraction. He grinned and stepped away from the table, his eyes bright with amusement as his voice became teasing. "Only if you can beat me in a chess match!"

"Huh?" Brian said. "Wait, Daddy, what does that have to do with being tall enough?"

"Hey! Dad!" Alex said, hopping out of his chair and running down the hall after his father. "Don't run! That's cheating- you're legs are longer!"

Brian grabbed a piece of toast off his father's plate and chased after the pair. He disappeared around a bend with a loud yell. "I want black!"

When all three were gone, Frank sighed in relief and pulled a newspaper out from under his chair. Quickly finding the news sections, both local and national, he handed the remainder to Neji who took it and fished out his own interests to set aside while he found and folded the Sports section into a more manageable size for one-handed handling. He set the newly folded newsprint down on the table in front of Hikaru since the new father was too busy feeding his daughter to take it from the Hyuuga.

"Thanks." The frustrated brunette muttered, pulling the rejected bottle away from Aiko. "No, sweetie." He added, nudging the paper out of her reach with his elbow as she made a grab for it. "That's for Daddy, yes it is! That's for Daddy to read until you go back to sleep- No, baby, ouch!"

He had made the mistake of leaning too close to the infant while he spoke and now she was yanking painfully on the hair in her hold. She tried to suck on her fistful but Hikaru pushed the nipple of the bottle between her lips before she could. Aiko released him in favor of gripping the bottle, attempting to it away as he pulled his hair free before she could catch him again.

Aiko began to cry loudly and, with a heavy sigh, Hikaru set the bottle on the table before settling his daughter over the spit up towel he had draped over his shoulder. He patted her back while she squalled, grimacing when Aiko failed to burp after several minutes.

Frank and Neji shot him irritated looks over the tops of their newspapers section.

"Alright, alright." Hikaru said, packing up the baby supplies while Aiko continued to cry right beside his ear.

"I don't get it." He told her, holding her two-handed at head height as he left the kitchen and walked toward her room. His voice seemed to make the infant pause in her crying and he continued. "You were fine letting… _that man_ hold you. A perfect angel. What did he do that was so special?"

As if to answer his question, she reached forward, her tiny hand outstretched to grab a long lock of the dark hair hiding his temple.

"Oh, no you don't." Hikaru told her sternly, tossing his head to catch the strands behind his ear and shoulder before settling her against him again. "Daddy doesn't like having his hair pulled. Now let's go put you down for a nap…"

That was as far as he got since Aiko began wailing again with renewed energy. They reached her room, and Hikaru went through everything he could think of to try and get her settled. He changed her diaper and checked her bottom for signs of redness. He tried burping her again. He set her on her back in her crib, wished her sweet dreams, and left to stand in the hallway out of sight but was forced to return when she continued to cry. He resorted to entertaining her with her favorite sleeping toy, a soft green frog small enough for her to grip and cuddle but not small enough choke on.

Aiko continued to cry despite his efforts and Hikaru wanted to join her.

"What did you do?" The voice from doorway belonged to Brian and though the question was innocent, Hikaru wanted to snarl an answer at the child that truly wasn't appropriate for the boy's young ears.

Instead the frustrated adult shoved aside his pride and asked a burning question. "What did _he_ do to maker her sleep?"

Brian blinked slowly but, showing more maturity than any other six year old, wisely didn't ask who his uncle was referring to. "Sasuke just held her and… um… made her a toy?"

Hikaru's eyebrows rose at the questioning lilt in the boy's voice, sleep deprived mind plaguing the adult with all sorts of inappropriate ideas as to what kind of toy the stranger had made. He felt his expression turn ugly.

Brian held his hands up in a placating manner, the gesture reminiscent of his missing mother and Hikaru's emotions turned to sadness before boiling back to near rage. As if summoned by Brian's growing alarm, Alex appeared at his brother's side and held out an orange paper crane to their uncle.

"This is the toy Sasuke made." Alex said to Hikaru before adding in an undertone to his brother. "I beat him. Your turn."

Brian rolled his eyes and left with an exaggerated sigh.

"That's it?" Hikaru asked, pointing a finger at the construction paper creation curiosity stamping out his anger. The thing wasn't even symmetrical; one wing was bigger than the other and the head looked as if it had been crushed in some sort of accident. And to top it off it was so…hideously…orange.

"Hey!" Alex said, as if insulted. The blonde frowned petulantly and pulled the bird back, holding it against his small chest in a protective manner. "You asked what Sasuke did and this is it! Aiko loved hers a lot but its all soggy now because she chewed on it so it won't fly."

"Fly?" Hikaru blinked at the boy in disbelief. _Not with those wings- even if you released it at a good height, the thing wouldn't fly very far, not nearly as far as a normal paper plane would go. It must be the color,_ he decidedIf that was all it took to quiet his daughter, then Hikaru's sleepless nights were over and he couldn't help the smile on his lips even when Aiko began to wail again.

"It's okay sweetie," He said as he picked her up and walked her around the room while bouncing her gently. "Daddy's going to make you lots of planes to play with! I'll use all sorts of colors-"

The promise of more playthings, despite their color, did nothing to stop Aiko's tantrum. She cried and cried and Hikaru once again went through his regime of checking her diaper and offering food. No attempt at placation worked and, chagrined, the brunette held out his hand for the orange monstrosity.

"Aiko!" Alex said, holding onto the toy and ignoring his uncle. "Aiko look!" He held the bird aloft, wiggling it, and Hikaru obediently turned so that the infant leaning over his shoulder could see the damn thing.

Instantly the crying subsided, degenerating into little gurgles and Hikaru felt one of his daughter's little fists leave his skin. He turned a little further to the side, wanting to see exactly what Alex had done so it could be replicated with the planes Hikaru was going to have to make, but the blonde was only holding the bird up and moving it slowly back and forth far above his head.

"Can you go play with Aiko? Can you keep her company until she goes to sleep?"

Somewhat disappointed at the lack-luster display, Hikaru sighed and waited, tuning out what Alex was saying as he waited for his hearing to normalize. The brunette yawned and shifted his daughter's position from his shoulder to his chest briefly before finally deciding it was time to try putting her in the crib again now that she wasn't screaming her head off. Unfortunately the baby wasn't willing to lay down yet and as soon as her back touched the mattress, she began to fuss and tear up again.

"Aiko! Aiko look!" Alex said and Hikaru frowned down at the blonde suddenly standing beside him, eyeing the empty small hand pointing in the air with suspicion. But just as he was about to tell his nephew to politely leave, Aiko began to make little happy noises and hold her hands out toward the ceiling.

A bizarre feeling of trepidation suddenly plaguing him, Hikaru slowly followed her gaze and stared for several minutes, dark eyes watching the orange blur swoop around them all before he left the crib's side, stuck his head out of the doorway, and bellowed loudly for his brother-in-law to join them immediately.

* * *

Regardless of what Andrew Pryderi may think of her, Hinata was not an idiot. She knew exactly why Sasuke had been moved into the mansion and disapproved of it greatly since rushing Sasuke's treatment could seriously jeopardize his health- something that wouldn't help Andrew get the answers he so desperately sought. Just because the mansion had more resources than your average medical cabinet did not necessarily make it a better recuperative environment.

She missed Suki, too, but that was still no excuse for moving a critical patient out of ICU the moment he stayed stable for more than an hour.

Jesus, when he'd first been brought into the hospital, it had been doubtful he'd live through the night. Rushed straight into the emergency room after being flown in by a rescue helicopter from the ocean, his condition had sparked a caustic debate about which ailment to treat first. There were several immediate threats to Sasuke's life and treating one could cause the fragile balance keeping him alive to shift and stop his already sluggish heart. Honestly, between the severe hypothermia, his later-logged lungs, the painfully evident trauma to his black and now mostly blue body, _and_ the blood loss, the emergency staff had been hard pressed to treat the brunette successfully.

Hinata didn't know how he'd survived any of it, she really didn't, or how Sasuke was up and walking around now. The ocean, they'd fished him out of the freaking _Atlantic _Ocean! Hinata still couldn't quite get her mind around how he'd survived the cold waters long enough to be found and shook her head thinking about it.

For almost a month, he'd been on a ventilator and had more tubes stuck in him than Hinata had ever seen in any hospital patient. Andrew had given the order to do whatever was necessary to treat Sasuke but even after all that effort, most of the staff had had little illusion as to what the mystery teen's outcome would be, the theory confirmed once Neuro came down and tested the patient's level of consciousness.

A three; when all was said and done after the monumental battle to keep him alive, Sasuke had only scored a three on the Glasgow Coma scale. He was a vegetable, a veritable paperweight, until someone decided to pull the plug on the ventilator breathing for him and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Even after he had improved enough to breathe on his own and have the machine removed he had still failed his LOC retest, once again scoring only a three.

For all intents and purposes, the kid was dead- his body just hadn't realized it yet.

Since they hadn't had a name to put on the chart, the nurses tending to him had started calling him 'Sleeping Beauty.' This was a marginal improvement over the initial pet name, 'Sleeping Suki' due to his uncanny resemblance of Andrew's missing wife. Unfortunately, some insensitive moron had made a comment about the name to Andrew and the blonde had nearly lost it. After that the name was changed and access to Sasuke was officially restricted to only a handful of hospital employees. Because of this, the wing that Sasuke had resided in had remained relatively deserted since the only ones who visited the comatose teen were Andrew's kids (the only ones that were there in a comfort capacity and would have lived there if they'd been allowed), Sam (chasing after the twins), Mary (to check up on her patient), Frank (chasing after Andrew) and Andrew himself (chasing after his children while checking up on the mysterious young man).

Pausing as she ascended the stairs to the second floor, Hinata shook her head and frowned as a thought struck her. The two male nurses that Sasuke had attacked upon waking… Neither one should have been anywhere near the brunette's room though they had insisted that they'd been sent by Mary.

It was no secret that Mary loved her nephew's kids a great deal and was willing to humor them to no end; if they had come shouting down the hallway days ago for her to come look at Sasuke then of course she would do so and if she was unavailable, then she'd send someone else to go check on him. If overwhelmed with patients, it was entirely possible that she would have just thrown Andrew's mandates to the wind and randomly chosen anyone who had been unoccupied at that moment to go to the appropriate room and check out the boys' claim that, against all medical reasoning, Sasuke was waking up.

Still though, it seemed odd; even if Sasuke had been waking up he wouldn't just lash out without provocation. The nurses' claimed that he had just leapt off the bed and attacked them, before fleeing the room to hunt down more victims like some psychopath. Hinata found this strange but she wasn't sure if it was because of the story itself or something else. Maybe the incident had been something more mundane, like a cultural misunderstanding- it had happened before with another patient and the hospital had learned the hard way that in some walks of life an unknown male touching a male patient was a serious taboo.

Sakura had proven quite well that, even sedated, Sasuke would react if maltreated. Despite how careful they had been when transporting him to the Pryderi home, Hinata and Neji couldn't completely avoid jostling the teenager while getting him tucked in to his new room. Sasuke hadn't paid them any attention, hadn't roused at all while they had manipulated his body into position. At the time, the Hyuuga had chalked it up to the medication he was on but now she wasn't so sure and, strange as it may sound, thought that on some level, Sasuke was conscious enough to tell friend from foe. Try as she might, she just couldn't convince herself that the brunette was someone who would do something so violent as to attack someone without being threatened in some way before hand. Sasuke just didn't strike Hinata as that kind of person.

Determined, she took the remaining stairs two at a time and jogged down the hall to Sasuke's room. The door was closed, indicating that it was now occupied since she had left it open before leaving with Frank earlier. Letting out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, Hinata smiled at her behavior before lifting a fist to knock. If her instincts were correct and Sasuke was inside he probably wouldn't appreciate her barging in so she let him know that she was present by both rapping her knuckles against the wood as she softly announced her identity. When no one answered the door, she let herself in, opening the door slowly in the event he needed privacy.

_Oh, __**Hell**__…!_

"Sasuke!?" Again, she was taken by surprise as to how alike in appearance he was to both Suki and Hikaru. Not as they were now, no, but how they had looked years ago as teenagers. Swallowing down the nostalgic lump in her throat, Hinata shook her head and hurried over to the prone form sprawled on the floor.

He lay on his stomach with his face turned away from her, unmoving. He'd striped out of his top at some point and relief rushed through her as she watched the pale expanse of his back move up and down as he breathed. Dropping to the floor beside him, Hinata turned him onto his back gently with one hand, her free one already on his throat to check his pulse, tracking the slow, weak beat. Suppressing her worry, she continued her assessment and addressed a more immediate cause for concern.

There was blood trickling down his cheek from a cut near his temple, the injury bleeding heavily despite its minor size. The area around the wound had already begun to change color to a darker hue, the swelling helping to mark a clear outline of the size and give notice that the area was going to be one hell of a goose egg later. Fishing out her handkerchief, she pressed it to the cut firmly to try and staunch the flow of crimson liquid.

"Sasuke, can you hear me?" She asked, raising the volume of her voice when he failed to respond. "Sasuke, wake up please." She shook his shoulder, the action provoking a fluttering of his eyelids, and the knot of anxiety in her chest loosened. She continued to talk to him though there was no further movement from her patient even when she tried patting his cheek.

"Hey, Hinata you in here?" A voice from the hallway asked seconds before the door opened and Andrew walked in. Unsurprisingly still in his pajamas and looking quite perplexed, he was holding a creased piece of orange construction paper between his hands as he entered.

"I'm telling you, it's not possible!" Hikaru said, obviously continuing some prior conversation as he followed at his brother-in-law's heels.

"But he did! Sasu…Sasu!?" And to add to Hinata's growing headache, Alex and Brian came in and immediately raced over to her and their prone playmate, bombarding her with questions about what had happened seconds before Andrew could do the same thing.

"I don't know." She told them, moving over to allow Andrew to kneel down beside her and begin his own examination. "I came in and he was already unconscious on the floor."

"Boys, go down stairs please. Hikaru, grab the pillows off the bed and bring them here. Hinata, go grab the First Aid kit so we can see to that cut." Andrew rattled off the orders without missing a beat, hands already cupping Sasuke's dark head, expert fingers searching for other lumps or other injuries that may be hidden beneath the dark hair, all the while continuing to keep pressure on the cut on the brunette's forehead.

"But Dad…" Brian began.

"Not NOW!" Andrew barked, unable to contain his annoyance with yet _another_ problem concerning their new houseguest. He couldn't see to Sasuke with his kids pestering him and, though he knew that this wasn't their fault, he couldn't help the anger he felt with the two boys; whatever the trio had done this morning hadn't helped Sasuke's condition improve at all and perhaps had set all back their efforts to nurse the boy back to health quite far. "Get out!" He ordered, paying them no more attention once the boys backed out of sight.

Hikaru and Hinata darted away to follow his commands, both returning seconds later with the wanted items. Following Andrew's directions, Hikaru stuffed the pillows under Sasuke's legs, elevating them off the floor as the blonde eased the prone form into a supine position. The idea behind both actions was to redirect blood flow from the limbs back to the heart and head, the two areas where it was possible the problem had originated. Hinata brought over a green oxygen cylinder the size and length of her arm, a face mask and line already fixed to the spigot, along with the requested medical kit.

"Is he dying?" Alex's voice was mournful, the sound coming from behind Andrew's shoulder. The adult glanced up and saw that both his sons were just outside the doorway, the cheeky pair having his order to get out of the room to the bare minimum. They had done exactly as he said so yelling at the pair for disobeying him would be pointless; he turned back to his patient and ignored the pair.

Even though the bare pale chest was rising and falling in a normal rhythm Andrew helped Hinata fit the mask over the brunette's mouth and nose, watching the plastic begin to fog gently after the pure oxygen began flowing. The blonde checked Sasuke's heart rate, found it evening out into a normal rhythm, and sat back on his heels to watch Hinata press more gauze to the head wound.

"Should he be bleeding like that?" Hikaru asked hesitantly, hovering near the bathroom.

Andrew blinked, finding the question odd until he remembered that Hikaru didn't have much medical training beyond applying band-aids. "Well, head wounds always bleed a lot no matter where the lac is."

"The head has more blood vessels than any other extremity." Hinata elaborated, sneaking a look under the bloody gauze. Using the bottle of saline in the kit, she soaked both the gauze and the cloth of her ruined handkerchief before gently peeling them away. Studying it critically, she used more gauze to dry the area thoroughly before covering it with antibiotic cream and an overlarge bandage.

Andrew nodded at her work and turned his attention to the large sections of gauze taped in place over Sasuke's lower belly. The bandages were peeling away around the edges and he pushed them back into place with a finger, holding the digit there until the adhesive stayed put as his unoccupied hand poked and prodded Sasuke's abdomen judiciously. _No rigidity, no tenderness, no distention, no signs that the stitches were torn, no signs of infection_. Frowning, Andrew swept his blue eyes up and down the still unconscious brunette, lingering over the pink lips. He took one limp hand between his two and held it.

From Andrew's right, Hikaru made a disapproving sound.

"Should I call an ambulance?" Hinata asked, already fishing in her inner jacket pocket for her cell phone, heedless of the blood staining her fingers.

"No." Andrew said after a moment, holding Sasuke's hand up for her inspection. "His color's good, there's no sign of fever. His breathing and heart rate are both normal though he's showing early signs of dehydration. Let's get him into bed and hang a line. He's not diabetic but I'll put some dextrose in the IV, too, since it won't hurt him."

He had Hinata put the pillows back on the bed and roll back the bed covers while he, with Hikaru's help, picked Sasuke up and got the brunette into bed. Working with Hinata, it took only a few minutes for Andrew to settle the teenager; they put him back on the heart monitor and put in a new IV catheter since it seemed that the old one had been ripped out at some point. The saline drip was prepped with dextrose and, at Hinata's suggestion, Andrew also threw a vitamin cocktail into the mix.

"We'll let him sleep." The blonde said, putting away the penlight he had used to check Sasuke's eyes back in the nightstand drawer where it resided. _Pupils equal and reactive, no signs of hemorrhaging, no signs of jaundice._ "Neji will check on him while he stands guard. If he hasn't woken by tomorrow morning he's definitely going back to the hospital."

"Is he comatose again?" Hikaru asked in a tone that implied he was vaguely happy at the prospect.

Andrew glared at him for a long moment, waiting until he had sufficiently cowed the other man before turning back to Sasuke. The blonde was acutely aware of his anxious children waiting for an answer.

_Only one way to find out._

"Sasuke!" Andrew said loudly, almost shouting the name right in the brunette's ear. "Sasuke, wake up! _Sasuke!_"

Dark eyes snapped open immediately and suddenly the prone form was sitting bolt upright trying to free himself of the heavy covers spread over his body. He was nearly flailing by the time he got an arm free to reach up and pull the mask away, sucking in breath as if he couldn't get enough oxygen. He looked panicked as he looked around wildly, searching until his frantic eyes landed on Andrew.

"I think that answers that question." Andrew said dryly, unable to keep the smugness out of his voice. He smiled at the brunette, triumphant as he watched the teenager's mouth open to speak. The feeling faded though when, instead of words coming out, Sasuke began to cough.

He doubled over not long after, his free hand covering his mouth and, concerned, Andrew began patting him hard on the back as the attack continued, trying to and help loosen the obstruction- the kid sounded as if he were choking on something, making awful wet sounds, body nearly convulsing as it fought to purge whatever the trigger was from the brunette's airway. The fit wasn't getting any better even with the helpful thumping and Hinata began making noises about getting him some water.

"Here!" Hikaru said a bit breathlessly, appearing at Andrew's side and shoving a glass of water under Sasuke's nose, helping the teenager take sips in-between bouts. Andrew thought the gesture was rather kind- and odd- considering how much Hikaru wanted the stranger out of the house. He looked at his brother-in-law and realized he looked slightly shaken by the whole affair.

Apparently even the most stoic of hearts could be moved to act compassionately when the person in trouble looked like a missing loved one.

The coughing subsided gradually and Sasuke slumped, exhausted, eyes shut as Hinata helped him sit back against the pile of pillows she had hastily shoved into place. Opening the nightstand drawer again, Andrew pulled out a stethoscope and began pressing it the brunette's chest to check his lungs.

"Well, this is way too much drama for me." Hikaru said flatly, regaining his composure and trying to sound superior and unaffected. He eyes the half full water glass with distaste and mild confusion, as if surprised to find the thing in his grasp. Apparently, Hikaru's random acts of charity did not last long and the blonde mentally sighed, supposing he should be grateful that the overbearing male had actually taken the initiative to help out at all.

"…dump this out…" Hikaru was saying but Andrew immediately tuned him out when he heard, and felt, his patient suddenly take a sharp breathe, the heart monitor's soft beeping suddenly becoming a clear shriek. The blonde, gaze on the brunette's chest, rolled his eyes upward to see what the problem was and found that Sasuke was looking at something over Andrew's shoulder.

He only had time to frown before Andrew was suddenly being knocked to the floor, narrowly avoiding the arm that shot out to grab the object that Sasuke found so damn fascinating. Then the world degenerated into the chaos of Hikaru yelling, Hinata pleading, the kids crying and Sasuke _growling._

"Holy shit!" Andrew whispered, landing beside the bed. He lay on his back and, above him, Sasuke's right hand had grabbed hold Hikaru's shirt. Despite the obvious loss in muscle tone, the teenager's thin arm did not shake as he pulled the other male back towards the bed. Hikaru, unsurprisingly, was fighting all the way, prying at the fingers seemingly embedded in his pajama top, ordering the boy to let go.

"Andrew!" It was Frank's voice, the man having to shout over the ruckus, and the blonde turned in the direction that it had come from, scrambling backwards on hands and knees over the floor until he had a space to stand.

Hinata was hanging on to Sasuke from behind, the brunette male not paying her any attention as Hikaru was slowly drawn closer to the bed. The young woman had managed to also trap Sasuke's left hand, tangling it in the sheet as she used her weight to pin the bedclothes in place and keep the teenager on the bed. She was pleading for Sasuke to "Stop! Stop, Sasuke, let him go!"

The teen ignored her though and the others in the room, instead remaining focused solely on the other brunette, determined to drag the other closer. Sasuke's face was twisted into a snarl, a ferocious, murderous look in his now **red **eyes and Andrew had no doubt that if Hikaru reached the bed he was a dead man.

"Stop!" Andrew said crossing the distance between his brother-in-law and himself in two quick strides. Instead of trying to unhook Sasuke's determined fingers, he began tugging at Hikaru's shirt. The blonde grabbed the hem and jerked upwards, dragging the piece of clothing over Hikaru's head while pushing the other male away with a well placed kick. With a curse, the shirt and brunette separated, Hikaru stumbling backward a bit until he finally tripped and landed hard on his rear.

For a moment the empty shirt dangled from Sasuke's hand but then it was released and Hinata let out a squawk of protest as the brunette in her grasp dragged her over the bed as he slid out of it to continue the pursuit.

"Sasuke, stop!" Andrew ordered, grabbing the teen around the middle and pressing his shoulder into the brunette's incision to cause pain. The blonde hated resorting to such dirty tactics but nothing else was getting through to the teenager. To his shock and dismay, however, his efforts were doing nothing to slow Sasuke's progress; it was like trying to stop a bulldozer in full gear from moving and the blonde found himself being pushed backwards. Their words weren't reaching him- Nothing short of unconsciousness was going to stop the brunette. _Damn it! No other way!_ "Get a sedative!"

"You want me, you little bastard?" As Hikaru began taunting the teenager from the safety of the other side of the room, Andrew debated just letting Sasuke go after all. He bet Suki would forgive him her brother's death if he explained it all later.

"Not helping!" Frank said scathingly and Andrew heard faint movement from somewhere near the door.

"Bring it on!" Hikaru continued. "I'm a black belt- you couldn't hurt me if you tried!"

When all of this was over, Andrew decided that he would shove said black belt so far up Hikaru's ass that the cloth would become the man's tongue!

Distracted by his musings, Andrew was barely able to hang on to the body he held as Hinata released her grip and slid off the bed. She immediately went to the table and chairs where the drug safe was located and punched in the code. And punched in the code again. She had to punch in the code on more time before the damn thing finally accepted it and swung open. The rush of relief Andrew felt was fleeting as he watched her fumble with the vial, her hands shaking too much to hold on to it properly. Incredulously, she kept dropping it and, once she managed to keep it in hand, nearly stabbed herself with the empty syringe she was trying to fill.

Sasuke surged forward then, drawing Andrew's attention, and the blonde decided enough was enough. He shoved the brunette backward, hard, nearly sending the teen toppling in the process as Andrew pulled back fist. He towered over the brunette and used the extra leverage to his advantage as he lined up the hit, hips twisting as he prepared to put his whole weight behind the blow. Hinata was being too slow with the injection so other, cruder, means were going to have to be used to knock Sasuke out. Before he could rethink his actions or listen to the voice in the back of his head desperately shrieking 'NO!,' Andrew followed through.

Time seemed to slow, allowing the blonde ample time to watch Sasuke glance upward and see the fist speeding toward him. The brunette's red eyes with their strange black motes moved to rest on Andrew's face and the blonde watched as the irises faded back to their normal dark color. Sasuke's stance relaxed, his expression becoming puzzled and he watched Andrew's fist come down, making no move to avoid it. Those eyes- _Suki's eyes!_- simply stared at Andrew, unfocused and unseeing, and the blonde realized that, for all the activity, Sasuke was still asleep.

But then the second expired and time resumed its normal flow. In the blink of an eye, Andrew's fist was smashing into Sasuke's cheek, the blow knocking the unresisting teen to the floor but not unconscious despite the strength and momentum behind it. The brunette simply blinked up at Andrew as Hinata shoved a needle into his shoulder and held him down until, eventually, the blinking stopped.

As the blonde watched Hinata check the boy crumbled at his feet, horrible, excruciating guilt seized his heart.

* * *

More's Moment:

FYI: The Glasgow Com Scale is a rating system devised to evaluate numerically a patient's Level Of Consciousness. The minimum score on the scale is a three which means that the person is unlikely to wake up since they are in so deep a coma they no longer respond to any form of outside stimuli. The polar opposite of this is the highest score one can receive is a, 15. The system doesn't give an exact determination of the patient's LOC but the approximation does give medical professionals an idea about a patient's basic status.

Bloody hell it's about time! I've been trying to get this out for a while but for the life of me, the chapter just wasn't coming together as it should have. Made me nuts trying to get all the characters where I wanted them- of course now I can't get them to shut up so I can get my suffering school work done.

I had a fifteen page paper due for a class by _Monday_ with a presentation due the following week so my writing time has been severely impacted. Please enjoy the chapter: I tried to make it long as an apology for making everyone wait forever. Apologies about that.

Next chapter in about two weeks-ish. Have a wonderful weekend and please review!

Happy tales everyone!


	8. Chapter 8: Damned

Chapter eight: Damned 

Awareness returned slowly and reluctantly to Sasuke. He was laying on his right side, surrounded by soft sheets that smelled faintly of disinfectant and detergent, tucked safely back into a bed that he knew was not his. The Uchiha could feel patches of stiffness on his chest and the muted beeping from behind him told him that he had, once gain, been connected to a heart monitor. His left arm, the only part of him exposed to the air as it lay over the top of the comforter, was numb except for a little area of pain where a vein had been punctured by an IV port.

He'd been having a dream, a very confusing one where he had arrived in time to save Naruto. He had managed to stop Itachi, had finally gotten his hands on the bastard despite the bindings his brother had used to try and slow him down. But before he could rip him limb from limb, Naruto was shouting, was protecting Itachi, telling Sasuke to stop and he had hesitated, confused, unable to continue until the blonde moved since the Uchiha wasn't willing to hurt him, and then the world had run as Naruto's fist came crashing down to connect with Sasuke's jaw. He'd wanted to ask his love why- _Why!?-_ but he'd been caught by Itachi's bindings, overpowered, unable to speak as his body gave out even as he remembered a crucial piece of information.

Sasuke wanted to cry, the tightness and gut-wrenching pain in his chest not helping to suppress the urge.

"Don't cry, teme." An arm wrapped around him in an awkward half hug, pressing his head forward and down to rest against a solid broad chest. Fingers threaded through the hair at the nape of Sasuke's neck as a weight settled hesitantly against the top the brunette's head. Breath ghosted over the shell of his ear as the other sighed softly, stirring raven locks to tickle pale skin.

The hand in Sasuke's hair moved to rub small circles over his upper back when his shoulders began to shake, his body wracked by ragged sobs as grief surged through him. The emotion was somehow infinitely worse after his moment of hope that everything was false- that there was a possibility that everything was actually okay and all he had to do was just break the damn illusion and rescue Naruto.

But everything was real and that meant that Naruto's death was also real.

Unable to just hold it internally any longer, he sobbed out this new pain. His lungs burned with every heave, his heart ached with every ragged inhale, his stomach cramping painfully during the process from every movement, and throughout the process his mind was just a chaotic jumble of images as the box he'd so carefully packed with everything Naruto was not just opened but violently kicked over so that its contents spilled out. He cried and howled his pain loudly so that everyone who heard the heart-wrenching sound knew that something, that some_**one**_good and wonderful was gone forever and that they should all drop to their knees and wail just like the Uchiha because… because… _Naruto was dead and it was Sasuke's fault and there was no way to __**change**__ any of it!_

When he was finally quiet, with his right hand firmly fisted in the hideous orange jacket his forehead rested against, Sasuke cracked bloodshot eyes opened and simply stared vacantly. He couldn't take anymore! It was just too much pain to bear any longer and he willed his heart to stop simply explode because it was just a mass of agony as it continued to beat steadily.

Impossibly, he felt his eyes tear again at this thought and the desire to rest, to just end everything settled in his chest like some overwhelming need.

He wanted to die.

Sasuke wanted to be with Naruto.

"I'm here." The desperate voice was a choked whisper in his ear and the hand on Sasuke's back stopped rubbing circles and just pressed against him, a warm weight that forced the Uchiha flush against the body he already touched. "I'm here. I'm here so you aren't alone! _I'm right here, Sasuke!_"

Gentle pressure forced his chin up and suddenly Sasuke's vision was dominated by worried blue eyes, the sight enough to make his own dark eyes well with moisture again.

"I'm so tired." He found himself whispering, tears flowing down over his already wet cheeks, voice pleading, beseeching, clearly imparting the unasked request. Blue eyes widened and closed briefly, as if their owner was trying to gather strength before continuing.

"I know." It was said in soft tones, full of compassion and understanding but there was also a note of stubbornness in the mix that answered Sasuke's silent question. "I know you're tired, Sasuke. I know you want to sleep until the hurt goes away but you can't. You can't sleep- the hurt wouldn't go away even if you did."

"I want to sleep." More tears fell and Sasuke's hand fisted tighter into Naruto's shirt, tugging slightly to emphasize the point that mere sleep was not what he was asking permission for, hoping that the blonde had just misunderstood the question by taking it literally. "Please let me sleep. Please let me go." _Let me out of my promise. Please just let me die. _"Please?"

And now it was the other who was crying, closing blue eyes and looking away as tears fell, lower lip trembling even as it was pinned in place by white teeth. Sasuke waited patiently, feeling the hand on his back move away as the arm snaked possessively around his waist. He kept his gaze glued to the tan face because he could see the emotional war playing out across it, could feel it in the tension-filled muscles against his skin. It was cruel of him to ask, even crueler to force Naruto into such a position, but Sasuke wanted the blonde's permission even if, when all was said and done, the figure suddenly clutching him like a life line was nothing more than a reflection of Sasuke's own psyche; a mental manifestation of the last barrier between remaining alive or committing suicide.

Sasuke blinked and laid his head against the solid chest, nuzzling slowly as he felt his lower lip tremble. No heart beat beneath his cheek, the chest did not move to breathe, though as soon as he noticed these details they were rectified; suddenly he could hear the meaty thud of a heart pumping, could feel the pressure as the rib cage began to expand and contract rhythmically. Unable to suppress the hitching in his chest, the Uchiha bit his lower lip as he released his death grip on the figure's shirt and pulled away altogether.

This was a Naruto, a very lifelike wonderful reproduction, but for all the details it was not _his_ Naruto and the realization saddened him despite the knowledge that the blonde he was searching for was already gone. He knew, he _knew, _but he just couldn't make himself believe the fact and every time he told himself that the blonde was gone, it took him by surprise, ripping the wound open all over again. Sasuke was talking to a fantasy, had been talking to one all this time. Sasuke shook his head slowly at his own foolishness and made a choked noise, something between a laugh and a sob, as he looked up into the troubled blue eyes studying him.

He was so incredibly stupid…

"You're not real." He said sadly, forlornly, unable to hide his anguish. "I want you to be but you're not. I don't need your permission because you can't grant me forgiveness. There is no promise holding me here, nothing to stop me from launching myself out of a window except my own cowardice. I'm not…" _Brave enough to continue on without you._ "I'm not fit…" _Itachi had been right all along._ "…Anymore…" _Because you aren't here any longer. "_So I'll…" _Just go away and finish what I was going to do at the hospital._ "I just…" _Love you so damn much that I am losing my fucking mind_. _You were my everything and there's just nothing left to live for without you here._

He faltered and looked away, not knowing or understanding the point he was trying to make as his thoughts scattered in every direction. Disoriented, he looked back up at the blonde, at the image of the only thing that had ever made him feel grounded, at the likeness of the only person he had ever wanted to protect.

The person he had failed.

Sasuke smiled and pulled the blonde head down to meet his in a chaste kiss. "I love you. I love you. I love you." He whispered it over and over against chapped lips, his confidence and boldness fleeing as more tears fell, making him cling desperately to the blonde instead. If this was the last time he would see him, even symbolically, Sasuke decided that he should come clean completely. He swallowed the lump in his throat with difficulty and continued on.

"I wanted to tell you for so long but I was afraid. I didn't want you to hate me- I don't think I could have lived through the rejection- so I never said anything. I wanted you to love me, to be mine, but my ego kept getting in the way… And then it was too late."

It was too late for so many things, including his confession.

Sasuke pulled away, unable to stop the blush he felt rush into his probably already red cheeks even as bitterness and self-loathing swept through him so strongly that his body shook. What good was this now? What good was confessing when the one who was supposed to hear it wasn't around? What good was it to talk to a fucking _doll?_ And, damn it, why couldn't he stop crying?! There wasn't anything more left in him; he was just a shell- an empty, eviscerated shell.

"Damn it, teme! I'm here, Sasuke, I'm really here!" He found himself abruptly being crushed, smothered in a suffocating hug as the fake Naruto's arms _and_ legs wrapped around his torso, rolling him onto his back in the process. Sasuke stared at the ceiling and didn't respond to the doll even when the added weight of the body above him forced a soft grunt from his pale frame. Unwilling to be comforted anymore, the Uchiha sniffled and forced his mind to blank out, forcing all desires away except one.

Sasuke concentrated and put everything he had into making the blonde squeezing the life out of him disappear. He imagined that there was no weight, telling himself that it was just the heavy bedclothes. The blonde spikes of hair were just rays of sunlight coming through the curtains just as the orange hue disrupting the bottom of his vision was evidence that it was early morning. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the darkness he found behind his lids, deepening his breathing into a meditative rhythm. There was no one with him; it was just Sasuke, the bed, and the softly beeping machines.

* * *

When he opened his eyes again, the room was empty and it truly was just him tucked into a foreign bed, in a foreign room, staring up at a foreign ceiling that he could barely see, once again hooked up to various machines. 

For a long time he just stared and concentrated on being numb, unwilling to deal with his emotions right now. He stared and thought, trying to make sense of his surroundings while smothering the occasional bouts of coughing that were caused from simply breathing, absently using his tongue to gingerly prod at his teeth as his jaw began to ache.

It wasn't a genjutsu: Naruto was dead- the Uchiha ruthlessly stamped down the immediate anguish that reared up at that- and Sasuke had somehow wound up in a household where there was an almost exact double of people he had grown up with wandering around, including one of his favorite blonde idiot.

His punishment for failure had begun.

Sasuke was in Hell.

The Uchiha blinked slowly in the dimness, watching for several moments the play of light dancing over the ceiling as the sun sank somewhere behind his curtains. His left hand was twitching again and he turned his attention to it, watching it dispassionately claw at the air as if searching for something. He willed it to stop, made the fingers to straighten out and still before finally forcing himself up into a sitting position, wearily untangling his body from the bed coverings. He turned off the heart monitor and disconnected himself from the machine's leads, pulling out the IV line and pulling off the oxygen mask. Fighting back the resulting wave of dizziness and nausea, Sasuke swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. He immediately hit the floor as his legs gave out but, two tries later, managed to remain upright long enough to hobble into the bathroom. After taking stock of the room's contents, he stripped out of his pajama bottoms and took a shower.

He just stood under the flow of water for a long time, unmoving even when his bandages became saturated. The spray was warm, almost hot, but the heat didn't seem to penetrate his skin; he still felt cold inside and part of him pointed out that he should get used to the feeling since it was going to be there for a long time. He used his bare hands to wash himself since a clean washcloth could not be found, patiently picking up the bar of soap every time he dropped it until the protests of his body forced him to simply kneel on the bathtub floor and stay there. He pulled the bandages covering him off completely, mechanically checking the wounds, mildly surprised when he found everything mostly healed.

Kyuubi, it seemed, was still with him even though the demon remained unresponsive to Sasuke's mental inquiries.

It was as Sasuke was reading the labels - well, staring at really, since he couldn't make sense of the squiggly writing on them- of the various bottles in the shower stall with him that he became aware that he was no longer alone. Though the presences were not enough to be threatened by, his body still reacted instinctually, tensing up to attack or defend, his right hand going automatically to his hip to retrieve a kunai from a weapons pouch that was no longer there. He dropped the bottles in the process, the resulting thumps as they hit the porcelain loud and sharp in Sasuke's ears, the sounds helping to re-orient him to the here and now.

Blinking mildly to rid himself of the water dripping into his eyes, he looked over his shoulder at the door and waited as his visitor ran through the doorway.

"Sasu…!" It was the blonde child from earlier, Alex, one of the boy's small hands clutching the doorway as he panted for breath just inside the bathroom. Looking at the scene before him he blinked, cheeks turning faintly red as he realized that Sasuke was in the middle of bathing. "Oh, sorry…"

"Hurry up!" Brain's voice was a hissed whisper from the depths of Sasuke's bedroom and the Uchiha couldn't prevent his eyebrows from rising as he looked at Alex expectantly.

What on earth were these kids doing in his room?

Spurred into action by his brother's urgency, the blonde stopped staring and launched himself at the tub. Reaching in, Alex grabbed one of the bottles beside Sasuke's foot and poured a small measure of the contents out onto his waiting hand, quickly snapping the bottle shut afterwards and setting it aside. From the viscosity of the liquid, the brunette determined it was shampoo but he didn't have time to note which bottle it had come from since Alex took that moment to bury his lather coated hands deep in Sasuke's hair.

"You gotta hold still!" The blonde complained as he scrubbed the raven locks vigorously. The fact that his fingers were tangled painfully in the wet mass didn't seem to register with the little boy; standing on tip toe, leaning precariously over the edge of the tub for leverage, the blonde's only concern seemed to be winning the battle he was waging on the teenager's hair. Fearing that he would soon go bald, Sasuke tried to pull away again by gently tugging at the small wrists to remove them. In response, Alex simply increased how much force he was using to wash the brunette's hair, small hands scouring the locks in a manner similar to how one would clean a particularly stubborn stain on a dirty pot. After an agonizing eternity of more vigorous scrubbing, the blonde relinquished his hold to allow the elder male to rinse the soap and suds away. "Okay, once all of it's gone, we're going down stairs. Okay? Okay, Sasu?"

Sasuke, head under the spray, simply nodded to show he had heard, turning his head this way and that until the water flowing from his hair ran clear. Slightly relieved that the ordeal was over, the Uchiha pushed the heavy black strands out of his eyes, momentarily startled by how long his hair currently was. His lips twitched down briefly before resuming a straight line.

Alex caught Sasuke's wrist and began pulling on it painfully as he whispered urgently to the teenager. "You're clean and we gotta go right now! It's, it's an emergency and we need your help, so…!"

The boy was practically dragging Sasuke out of the tub with all the tugging and the brunette finally had to jerk his arm free so he could stand without the fear of falling over. With a small sound of protest that did not go unnoticed by the child nearby, the Uchiha forced his body upright again and turned the shower knobs until the water shut off. Keeping one hand on the wall and his other hand outstretched in the air to break his fall should he stumble, Sasuke carefully stepped out of the tub and onto the bathmat, looking around for a towel.

"H-here." Alex stuttered, standing on tip toe to offer the fluffy expanse of cotton up to the brunette's free hand. The child was staring at Sasuke, eyes wide. It was disconcerting, making the Uchiha glance down at his nude form to see what the problem was as he took the towel and began drying off. Figuring that the child's attention was on the very noticeable scars now adorning his body, Sasuke decided to ignore it and just wrapped the cloth around his waist, managing to secure it with a knot at his hip just before Alex once again took his hand and began pulling.

"We brought you some clothes!" Brian's hurried voice was muffled by the pile of haphazardly folded clothing he shoved at Sasuke the moment the pair stepped onto the carpet of the bedroom. "Put them on as fast as you can- we have to hurry! There isn't much time."

Their stressed urgency was infectious and Sasuke found himself hastily dropping the towel to pull the items on. He struggled with the pants and boxers despite their looseness, unable to balance properly on one leg while getting the other through the opening in the soft cloth. He got his head caught in the neck of the over large T-shirt presented to him, having to fight both the oddley snug opening and his long hair before he could pull it on. He felt like a child by the time he was done and looked the part, eying the flowing material of his new pants and sleep-shirt that hit him at midthigh with mild irritation.

Immediately his hands were taken and Sasuke couldn't help but notice how much bigger his were than the pairs that held them. Their fingers were so small but their grip was strong and he found it oddly reassuring as he was led quickly into the hallway.

* * *

The moment he limped off the last step leading to the first floor of the house, Sasuke knew they were being watched but it was the silent air of vacancy that made the hair at the back of Sasuke's neck stand up. It triggered ingrained instincts that had been honed to extreme levels while under Orochimaru's tutelage, making the Uchiha pause in the foyer and pull the boys to a stop. 

"What's wrong?" Brian asked, the boy looking around for any sign of a problem.

"We have to go!" Alex whined, pulling hard on the teenagers hand to get him to move. Sasuke remained firm, though, and frowned as he scanned the area, trying to find the source of his anxiety.

The kitchen was nearest and, after pulling his hands free to use the wall as a support, the Uchiha moved forward until he could stick his head cautiously through the doorway to take a quick glance inside the room. Finding it empty, he returned to the children who immediately grabbed his hands and, again, began dragging him down the hall into a section of the house he had yet to visit.

Maybe Sasuke was just paranoid.

"You're such a slow poke!" Alex grumbled by the time they reached their destination. The usually short trip had taken nearly three times as long since Sasuke kept making them stop by every door so he could either look inside or touch the door itself. The limping Uchiha was led to rest on an ottoman near the door and promptly abandoned as the pair began to rearrange the furniture in the room.

They seemed to be in a glass enclosed patio area with two plush couches on either side of the room and a large TV and stereo setup on the other end. The glass panes making up the wall to his left had been polished until they shone, letting the last rays of sunshine in to pool over the floor in a large orange hued puddle. He could see snow on the ground outside, untouched and smooth, the dusting making the world so blindingly white it dazzled the Uchiha's sensitive eyes despite the sinking sun's fading illumination. Blinking away the spots that had appeared in his vision, Sasuke turned his attention back to the children and frowned.

"What are you doing?" He asked them in between bouts of coughing. He covered his mouth until the fit seizing him passed, slumping afterwards, rubbing his chest reflexively.

The kids were pushing the couches toward the center of the room, maneuvering the pieces around until they were separated by several feet and facing in opposite directions. The couches weren't small and had to weigh almost as much as Sasuke but the twins were pushing them around with surprising ease. Once finished with moving the furniture, the boys began pulling the cushions off and tossing them into the space between the two settees to form a rather large pile. When that chore was accomplished, Brian retrieved a blanket from a closet in the far corner of the room and threw the fabric over the two stripped sofas, effectively forming a roof.

"It's a fort!" Brian proclaimed proudly, crawling inside to arrange the pillows over the plush carpet until they all lay in flat. Once that was accomplished, he backed out to look over the construction critically.

While the little brunette continued to make small adjustments with the fort, Alex wandered over to Sasuke's ottoman and studied the Uchiha. Though the room was mostly dark now, the teenager felt the achingly familiar blue eyed stare acutely as it swept over him and, again, the idea of leaving this family came to him. He did not belong here, he did not deserve their kindness, so he had no right to remain in their company. He was sober now- his mind no longer clouded by drugs or by endorphins- so it was time he left before his presence brought misfortune to them like it had to Naruto.

"Don't be sad." Alex's voice was soft in his ear but it nearly made the teenager jump out of his skin. It was then that he felt the small arms trying to envelope his shoulders as best they could and the little hands clasped tightly across his chest. Sasuke realized that the boy had climbed onto the ottoman to hug him from behind.

Uncomfortable with the human contact no matter how good it felt, he pried the boy's hands apart and stood upright to maintain some distance between them. He could not get attached to this child, to this family. They had cared for him, true, and for that he owed them- he wasn't that cold blooded after all. The kids had said there was an emergency and he was willing to help though how much use he would be in his weakened state he wasn't sure. He would stay and offer aid then once the calamity had been averted or otherwise dealt with, Sasuke would simply leave.

Which brought about the question of what, exactly, was the emergency he had been dragged down here to help with?

"What did you need my help with?" Sasuke asked, muffling the urge to cough, keeping most of his attention on remaining upright. His left leg was holding weight but his knee felt weak and kept wobbling slightly. He rolled his shoulders, feeling joints pop as he continued the trend of loosening his body in preparation of combat. Sasuke wasn't stupid enough to think he'd be able to inflict much damage, especially given how little muscle tone he had, but he could probably get in a good hit or two before becoming dead weight. He scanned the room, noting the thickness of the door they had entered through before turning his head to scrutinize the glass walls, sharp gaze locking onto the door located among the panes. If need be, he could evacuate the kids through there onto the narrow deck outside and skirt the building until he found a safe place for the twins to hide.

"Well," Brian began, coming over to clutch Sasuke's hand. "We had to hide you."

The Uchiha blinked down at the boy and frowned. He coughed, the sound loud in the silence of the room. "Why?"

"Because we don't want you to be sent back to the hospital!" Alex said, jumping down from his perch with a small thud to stand beside Sasuke. The boy took his free hand and hung on. "Everyone's been yelling at Dad to take you back but Alex and I like having you here so we lied and brought you here so you could hide! If they can't find you, they can't take you away."

So it seemed that this family had grown tired of his presence. Sasuke didn't blame them, not one bit, and he squelched the little childlike voice in his heart that tried to sob out his absurd non-existent feelings of rejection. He was a loner, an avenger….

He blinked, suddenly feeling cut adrift. He wasn't either of those things any longer. He had killed Itachi. Naruto was dead and the Kyuubi now resided within Sasuke's body. For better or worse, his vengeance had been sated, his time spent in solitude at an end.

He felt his expression crumble abruptly as a sob slipped out.

He had waited for this moment for so long, had dreamed about it, had ached for it, but if he had managed to live through the battle with his brother, he had fantasized about sharing the moment with his blonde. He'd wanted to celebrate with Naruto.

Not with two children who looked like miniature replicas of himself and his lost love, kids that seemed to give a glimpse of something that would never be.

One sob became two as no tears became seemingly hundreds then thousands as he began to cry full out. He sat down hard, his felt leg unable to hold him any longer, narrowly avoiding landing on the boys who clutched his hands like lifelines as he curled up in a ball. He rested his forehead on his bent right knee, trying to be as quiet as possible as he sobbed brokenly and began coughing again.

* * *

"You need to eat something," Brian coaxed gently. The boy was nose to nose with Sasuke and as he spoke, the Uchiha could feel warm breath ghost over his lips. The teenager continued to stare emptily in the boy's direction. "Please Sasu? Just some milk maybe? It's good…" 

Brian's image was replaced with a red cup topped by a green lid with an abnormally long spout on top of it. The boy wiggled the item enticingly, the sound of liquid- presumably milk- sloshing within the container reaching the elder's ears.

Sasuke just closed his eyes tiredly, pulling his knees up further as he tugged the blanket they had wrapped around him higher over his shoulder.

They were all inside the fort and he was laying on his left side, curled up, arms firmly hugging his legs to his chest beneath his blanket. The shivering that had started after his breakdown was getting worse, making his body jerk almost painfully as he tried to remain still so as not to inadvertently strike one of the kids. Sasuke felt cold but he knew it wasn't the kind of cold that any amount of blankets or the warm body against his back could cure. He'd tried to explain that to Alex but the boy had ignored him, immediately pressing his small body against Sasuke's once they had managed to guide him inside. The blonde shifted and, shortly there after a small hand reached out to cup the Uchiha's forehead.

"He's hot." Alex whispered, the comment thankfully not addressed to Sasuke. Another hand was placed on the shivering head before being hastily pulled away.

"Sasu, you gotta drink this." Brian's voice was anxious but authoritative. It was the only warning Sasuke got before the long spout of the cup was placed against his lips and forced between them past his teeth and nearly to the back of his mouth as Alex pulled his head back, holding it in place. Before he could remove it, the cup's contents were being dumped down his throat and he had no choice but to swallow or choke.

Pushing the cup away roughly, he sat up sputtering and coughing, hands grasping his throat as he tried to get air and failed. By the time he did get to breathe he wasn't sure if his eyes were simply watering or if he had broken down again. Drawing a long, much needed breath Sasuke covered his mouth with his hands and doubled over, coughing hard as his forehead pushed against the cushioned floor of their enclosure.

"Sasu, are you okay?" Alex was already trying to help him sit upright again while rubbing the teenager's back.

"We're gonna have to get Dad." Brian muttered, also helping to rub Sasuke's back as the fit passed. The two boys helped ease him down to the lay on the cushions again and Alex spread the blanket over him again, tucking it around him while simultaneously shooting a glare at Brian. The brunette grimaced but forged on. "I don't like it either but he's sick, really sick! We shouldn't have moved him! Dad said…"

"**Mom** said to make Dad keep him here!" Alex was near tears, his voice rising as he became more agitated. Above the sound of his own calming breathing, Sasuke could detect a distinctive wheezing sound coming from the boy. Brian could as well, apparently; he leaned forward and took his brother's hand, his fingers wrapping around the other's wrist. "Mom said he was coming, she said he might be hurt, but she said to keep him at the house because otherwise… Otherwise…"

_Otherwise?_

_**We need to meet this woman.**_ Kyuubi's voice was bored and distracted, as if the demon was just commenting for the sake of doing something other than whatever task it was currently overseeing because it was simply that tedious. Considering that he was still in pain with most of his body not working as it should, Sasuke had no idea what the hell the fox had been doing all this time. The demon was a parasite and had a natural stake in making sure it kept its host physically fit- what had been so important that Kyuubi had had to seclude itself?

_I need to talk to you later. _Sasuke warned the beast, temporarily stomping down his anger at its absence so that he could tend to the blonde beside him.

Alex was panting, his chest heaving and the wheezing growing more and more pronounced. He put a hand to his chest and even in the indirect moonlight Sasuke could see his face twist up into an expression of panic.

Brian became just as panicked and began hunting around among the items strewn about the floor of their fort. It was much the same behavior he had displaced at the hospital however long ago that was. Whatever this inhaler thing was, Brian wasn't going to find it in time to be of use since the other was turning blue.

Sasuke reached out to Alex and dragged the boy down beside him, already channeling chakra into his hand as he pressed his palm against the blonde's back. The Uchiha rolled onto his back, forcing the boy to sprawl over his chest so Alex could rest comfortably. Sasuke began to pump healing chakra into the boy's lungs, helping the constrictions in the organs relax and allow the boy to breathe.

The wheezing slowly faded into normal breathing that gradually deepened as Alex's chest relaxed and the blonde became sleepy. The boy yawned, turning his head to press his mouth against Sasuke's chest as he did so, before mumbling something incoherent as his fists hooked into the teenager's barrowed shirt. Alex relaxed as sleep took him and Sasuke felt his own eye lids flutter now that danger had been averted.

"How did you do that?" Brian asked, soft voice floating out of the darkness above the two. "You stopped the attack but all you did was touch him…"

Feeling drained and suddenly unable to stay awake any longer, he made a vague beckoning motion to invite the child to lay down along side him. The Uchiha kept a hand out, waiting until Brian had cuddled up and gotten comfortable before clumsily tugging the blanket up to cover them all.

"You're not shivering any more." Brian noted quietly. The boy reached up and laid his hand against Sasuke's forehead. "You're warm but not hot. Do you feel any better?"

The teenager made a noncommittal noise, head lolling to one side as his eyes closed. He still felt empty and miserable, still felt Naruto's loss like an open wound. His little hysterical episode had eased some of that pain but he could still feel it there, waiting. It was like taking a bucketful of water out of the ocean; sure you had bled off some of the water but there was plenty, plenty more and only so many buckets that one could fill.

Feeling better wasn't going to happen anytime soon, in Sasuke's opinion.

Fingers began running through his hair, gentle touches that eased through the tangles they encountered. The gesture was meant to be soothing, and made his scalp tingle pleasantly as Brian continued, the boy apparently set on combing out all of the Uchiha's hair despite how sweat matted it must be. However, instead of relaxing, Sasuke felt himself tensing up. The gesture was too reminiscent of the dream he had woken up from earlier, too painful a reminder of Naruto. Just as he began turning back to tell Brian to stop, though, sleep yanked him under.

* * *

"Teme, you're being a jerk." It was Naruto's voice and he automatically tensed up, waiting for the familiar hurt and grief to wash over and drown him. "Hey, settle down! You need to loosen up and relax, so do it, teme." 

He felt his shoulder slapped lightly, playfully, and Sasuke tried to open his eyes to look up from where his head lay in the blonde's lap as hands descended into his hair to ruffle it. But his eyes remained stubbornly shut no matter how hard he tried to open them, as if glued or bound shut. Sasuke reached up, letting his fingers hunt for whatever was keeping his eyes closed.

Why wasn't he hurting? Where was all that grief and pain from before? Why wasn't he being reduced to a crying mess by his guilt?! He felt good, comfortable- completely opposite of what he should be feeling.

Warm hands took his searching one between them, callused fingers running over his palm and tracing the lines. "Relax, Sasuke, relax. Get some sleep."

"I am asleep. All I do is sleep." He complained, voice thick and rusty. "I spend most of my time unconscious but I don't get feel any better when I'm awake."

"Uh, yeah," One hand left Sasuke's and he could imagine the blonde reaching up to scratch the back of his tan neck. "I know. Kyuubi says it's partially excess chatter, that the two sides of your brain aren't handling the trauma of getting here very well. That combined with three of us being crammed inside you…I guess it's no wonder that your body is feeling stressed out."

"Getting here?" Sasuke asked lazily. Naruto kissed the palm of the hand he held and squeezed it before placing it on the brunette's chest. Hands buried into Sasuke's hair, again, blunt nails teasing against his scalp gently. "Mm."

"Like that, huh?" The blonde teased, laughing a bit when Sasuke repeated the noise. "Yeah, well, Kyuu says inter dimensional travel for a human is like being stuffed through a meat grinder…Or was it a paper shredder? Maybe a deli slicer? No, that doesn't make any sense… I dunno- anyway, the only reason you lived through it was because you had Kyuubi in you, though, now that's not exactly a good thing since this place is really strange. Kyuu says chakra may not exist here as we know it. Can you imagine!? No chakra? How the hell are you supposed to be a ninja if this place doesn't use chakra?" Naruto was yelling, waving his arms around to express his indignation over it all and Sasuke could feel every motion since the blonde was putting his whole body into the gestures.

"Well," The blonde continued on, tone becoming optimistic and cheerful. "At least it seems that you can still use chakra so I guess that it's not so bad. You won't have to worry about enemy ninja!"

Warm and full of life, that was who Naruto was.

"You're beautiful," Sasuke said suddenly, voice dreamy, earning more head pets and a laugh for the comment. He felt almost drugged, he felt so calm and relaxed. Encouraged, he continued since he was now in a sharing mood. "No really, I think you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen. Not always the brightest shinobi-"

"Hey!"

"But you're the most compassionate, stubborn, wonderful shinobi. Ever." He finished, reaching up to take one of the hands resting in his hair. The hand pulled free of his grip and panic seized him at the loss of contact. His good mood left in a cold rush as he berated himself for his stupidity. He should have kept his mouth shut! He shouldn't have- but then fingers intertwined with his and all of his doubts fled.

"And sexy, don't forget sexy." Naruto murmured, bending down to brush lips against Sasuke's forehead and restoring the Uchiha's earlier contentment. "And determined." A kiss "And completely perfect." Another kiss, followed by another and another, little pecks that went from one side of the brunette's brow to the other, tickling and teasing until the Sasuke laughed again.

"You should do that more often." The blonde said against the other's temple. "It's a nice sound. It makes you sound younger, friendlier."

"Can I stay with you?" Sasuke asked sleepily, again trying to pry his eyes open as Naruto sat back and took the brunette's hands in his own.

"I am wherever you are." A pause then a Sasuke's hands were being squeezed tightly. "I'm sorry. Kyuu jumped into you and I… kinda came along for the ride. You're stuck with me until the fox figures a way to get us out."

"So, I'm your…" The Uchiha felt his mouth work as he tried to process what Naruto was telling him. He tried to fight down the confusion, tried to dismiss it as dream nonsense; he was asleep, he had to be, and everything in dreams made sense. It was waking up that was hard because that was when what had been perfectly logical the night before went right out the window under the harsh light of day. Naruto's spirit was inside him, was really there and not just some hallucination... "Are you saying I'm your…Vessel?"

"Well," The blonde paused again, making little hmm-ing noises while he leaned left and right, obviously thinking hard about the Uchiha's question. "I guess. That's probably the simplest way of looking at. Yeah! You're my vessel like I was Kyuubi's." Another pause before asking in a small voice, "Do you mind?"

Did he mind? Did he?

"I damned you, didn't I?" Sasuke asked softly, feeling his lower lip tremble as despair crashed over him. He should have known, _should have known!_ Gentle people have a very sensitive intuition for understanding others. They know things implicitly without facts or reasons, having to only look at you and know what you needed even if you didn't. They would just know and because of this, they would be compelled to help.

Alive, Naruto had been one of these people despite everything the blonde had been through and in death the instinctive reaction to comfort had not diminished in the slightest. By the same token in death, just as in life, Sasuke had hurt the blonde with his thoughtlessness, with his selfishness. Without lifting a finger, the Uchiha had still managed to cause the other pain, had ripped Paradise away, and punished Naruto when all Sasuke had wanted to do was reward him.

If this Naruto was real, if the blonde's spirit really did now reside within the brunette's body, then it meant that Sasuke's love had condemned them both to suffer for his transgressions.

"No, teme, don't cry." His hands were released as Naruto began wiping at his eyes, trying to soothe the tears away. "Please don't cry! Please? There's no reason for you to cry! I didn't want to go!"

Naruto put his hands on either side of Sasuke's face, his thumbs prying open the other's eyes, and the sudden onslaught of light startled the brunette. He tried to jerk away but the blonde wouldn't let him, holding him firm until his eyes adjusted. Then all Sasuke could see was blue because Naruto had hunched over him so that they could look one another in the eye.

"Sasuke, I didn't **want** to go." He said slowly, firmly, as if speaking to someone mentally deficient. "**I** wanted to stay with you. **You** didn't keep me here. We died and Kyuubi shoved all our souls into your body like a lifeboat because my body was too… damaged. And now you're suffering because there's no seal to protect you from Kyuubi's chakra and it's frying your brain and destroying your body and, though it's trying, the fox can't fix it all because this place is so god-damned screwy!"

"But why?" Sasuke's voice was small and hesitant, making him sound more like a child than anything. "Why didn't you go?"

"Because you wouldn't be there." Naruto said simply, pulling back slightly to offer a watery smile as his blue eyes filled with tears. "I searched for you for so long, Sasuke. I searched and searched but when I found you I couldn't get you to come home. And then Akatsuki caught me and I thought I'd never see you again!" The blonde was hugging him awkwardly, holding the Uchiha tight as if he would never let go, sobbing his heart out. This didn't bother Sasuke since he was doing the same to Naruto. "But suddenly you were there! You were yelling and screaming, fighting with everything you had to get to me even though you were so injured…" Naruto pulled back again and this time he gave a real smile, the one Sasuke had loved but had seen so rarely when they were younger. "How the hell could I leave you behind? How could I go _anywhere_ without you after that? You're my rival, Sasuke, and my friend. My greatest enemy and my staunchest ally. You're my beautiful, wonderful, Sasuke. I love you!"

Then Sasuke sat up and Naruto crushed him in a bear hug. They clung to one another, both crying happy tears as they kissed, as they rejoiced.

No matter the circumstances, they were together again.

* * *

He was gone! **Again!**

Andrew resisted the urge to kick the door to Sasuke's bedroom as he closed it, hearing the useless lock click into place automatically. He'd come up here to check on the teenager one last time for the day and possible for a much longer period only to find the brunette gone.

It was becoming a theme the blonde wasn't sure he appreciated.

Feeling quite put out and extremely pissed off after an afternoon of getting screamed at by Hikaru, Andrew felt he had every right to stomp down the stairway as he was doing now. His brother-in-law wanted Sasuke gone, unsurprisingly, but when Neji, Frank, and the newly arrived Sam also began siding with Hikaru, Andrew couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed. The only ones who agreed with Andrew about the strange brunette were Hinata and his nearly hysterical sons.

So when everyone convened in his office to verbally fight about the issue, it was Andrew alone who fought to keep Sasuke here; the kids were sent to play in the play room where they wouldn't hear the argument while Hinata had been sent to her bedroom since she desperately needed to sleep before she passed out from exhaustion.

Shoving his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, the blonde turned toward the kitchen when he reached the foot of the stairs. Suki always teased him about this, said that being an emotional chef was going to wind up making them all fat, but right now Andrew needed to direct his energy into something constructive or else he was going to unleash his temper on the next poor soul who crossed his path.

Wanting some comfort but too angry to be around his children, Andrew rummaged through the refrigerator and began pulling out the ingredients he wanted, setting them all on the counter by the sink and shutting the fridge once he was done. He got out a small pot from the cupboards under the countertop, paused, then put it away in favor of its more larger cousin. It had been a really, really, really bad day.

Moving to the far side of the room near the kitchen table, he raided the pantry for a few cans of soup base, opening them and dumping the contents into the pot, setting the liquid to simmer before returning to the counter.

As they left his children had pleaded that Sasuke not be sent away, that Andrew not put the teenager back in the hospital. They seemed convinced that some sort of calamity would befall should the strange teenager be put back in the medical facility and, quite frankly, Andrew felt the same. Suki's plane had been coming back from Japan, her native land, and he couldn't help but wonder if her estranged family had had something to do with the cause behind her plane crashing into the ocean as she returned to the United States.

Neither Suki nor Hikaru Uchiha talked much about their family, something that did not bother Andrew Pryderi in the slightest. He loved his wife and knew enough to have a vague idea about her personal history, having found out quickly in their ten years of marriage that if he kept his mouth shut and left her alone she would tell him what he wanted to know. He knew that anything she considered a relevant part of her life had begun once she and Hikaru came to the states at the ages of thirteen and eighteen respectively. They had both gone to boy's school, blending in with the recent influx of Asian students without incident, and keeping to themselves for the most part. Hikaru had gotten a job with a lawyer firm right out of high school to support them both, going to business law classes at night, while Suki, having won a scholarship, had gone straight to college to get her degree and had later landed the roll in an independent film that she became famous for. As far as his wife was concerned, the only thing really noteworthy was that she had spent those years in disguise, living her life as a boy so that if her family pursued them she would not be as easily found.

This, of course, had led to the question of why she and her brother had fled from her family. Andrew had asked repeatedly after their wedding, bothered by the potential threat to their family, especially as they were planning out when would be the best time to have children. If something major was on the horizon, then he as her spouse had a right to know, didn't she think. For a long time Suki had refused to tell him, citing personal reasons, and it had become a point of contention between the two of them. Four years and several fights later, she had finally laid out a bare outline of her life in Japan when they found were pregnant.

The issue settled, no more needed to be said and, when the boys began asking about their relatives, Andrew and Suki told them that her side of the family was dead.

In reality this was far from the truth. The Uchiha Clan, a very influential family in Japan, was very much alive and kicking. The family was wealthy beyond imagination and a force to be reckoned with, having a hand in nearly every business venture except entertainment. The last was something the blonde found incredibly odd but, then again, this is probably what had encouraged Suki to pursue a career in the arts. Perhaps it was a mandate of their religion; among everything else, the Uchiha family also ran a shrine dedicated to the god Inari and his kitsune servants.

Andrew frowned, mechanically chopping the leek and onion in front of him as he thought about a certain picture on the wall in Suki's office. It had taken him ages to persuade her to free it from the dusty box of photographs it had been in for years and hang it up where it could be admired. Every few years, Suki and Hikaru went home to pay their respects at the shrine, a difficult feat since they had to do so in secret. Seeing the picture reminded Suki of bad memories, she said, and when he had thoughtlessly commented about them not being too bad since she was wearing the cute outfit of a shrine maiden, she had nearly torn his head off.

Hikaru, while helping the blonde ice his cheek, had then explained that it had been part of a ceremony. Apparently, when a young woman came of marriageable age, it was the custom to ask for the blessing of the kitsunes and their associated diety. In the Uchiha family, the youngest child served at the shrine before marriage and, as such, Suki, the youngest of three children, had grown up as a shrine maiden. So, when she came of age, the pair returned to the shrine and, under the cover of darkness, prayed for Inari's protection at the shrine's alter. The next day, at a public ceremony, Suki along with a multitude of other girls had dressed up in traditional robes and been blessed by the temple priest.

The photo had been taken at that time and though the story behind it left him properly subdued, the blonde still thought his wife looked cute dressed up in the orange and white maiden outfit, standing in front of the torii gate strightfaced with her cheeks marked with sacred ash in the pattern of a fox's whiskers. Thinking about it, she had be…What? Seventeen in the picture?

With practiced motions, he transferred the cut up vegetables to the pot, giving the mix a stir before lowering the heat and placing a lid on the container. He returned to the cutting board and began coarsely chopping potatoes up, wondering idly if the cook tomorrow would yell at him for using them. When he was through and the tuber had been added to the pot's contents, Andrew sighed and set about peeling and soaking replacement potatoes.

It was very quiet, he realized, immediately feeling himself tense. It was only- he looked over at the kitchen clock, feeling himself smile on reflex when he spied the rooster shaped device- almost seven in the evening, way too early for two healthy energetic boys to be in bed. A chill went down his spine and Andrew hurriedly dried off his hands on a tea towel, cursing himself and the soup and his God-damn temper as he strode out of the room into the hall.

They weren't in the playroom. They weren't in their room. Not in Aiko's room or the living room or the dinning room. He checked the closets in the hall, the sitting room, and the bathrooms. All of them were empty and dark. Fearing that they may have come to harm while pulling the same stunt they had earlier that day, Andrew jogged back to the kitchen. He flipped on the outside lights and opened the back door, leaning out until he could see the tree that had caused such an uproar that morning.

"Hey!" Andrew shouted, watching the large plant stir and shake off its new coating of snow. He realized that another storm had kicked up, making the wind that lashed at him feel like knives cutting into his skin. "Have you seen the kids?! Have they been out here at all?!"

The blonde began to feel like an idiot as, for a long stretch, the tree did not move. For some reason he felt as if it were staring at him, incredulous that he would be asking it such a question. But then it swayed its branches from side to side in a clear negative.

At least the kids were inside the house.

"Thank you!" Andrew called, earning a lazy salute. "If you see them can you let me know?" He then mentally kicked himself -how the hell was a tree (_A TREE, ANDREW!_) going to tell him anything?! What did he expect it to do, tap out a message in Morse code on the house's siding?

But then one of the tree's largest boughs began to curl its smaller branches into something that resembled a fist and Andrew truly thought the damn thing was going to give him the finger. Instead it gave him a distinctive thumbs-up sign before making a lazy shooing motion.

Blinking both from cold and his own bout of incredulity, Andrew shouted his appreciation again and pulled back into the house, shutting the door behind him and leaning his back against it.

_That was so damn weird._ He shook his head, turned off the outside lights, and began searching again.

* * *

More's Moment:

Apologies one and all for the lateness of the chapter. I tried to make up for it a by making the chapter longer. Let me know how you felt emotionally about this chapter- I use those reviews like a barometer to check if I am hitting the right chords. What I find sad many not be what you find sad, etc, etc, so feedback is important.

A note on time here. I admit that we went from morning to evening fairly quickly but for anyone feeling lost, here's a rough timeline for Sunday:

The kids sneak into Sasuke's bed room around 3AM.

From 5AM- 9:45AM the boys are down stairs in the play room.

Hikaru sees the tree for the first time at 9AM

Sasuke wakes and flees from breakfast at roughly 10AM

In his room, he passes out a little before 11AM and is found a few minutes later by Hinata.

From 11:30 AM to 5PM, Sasuke is unconscious, everyone else is fighting down stairs.

Alex finds him in the shower at 5:45PM. They're downstairs from then on.

Alex blows off steam a bit before 7PM.

For those readers who may still be feeling a little displaced, take comfort- it's deliberate and the breakdown above is only a rough idea of the day's timeline.

I'm not sure when the next chapter will be done since I am working hard on the next chapter of Bared Naked. (No complaining about updating this story and not the other, please. I can't put up a chapter when it's not written.) Since this chapter was over due, I wanted to get this one done.

Thanks everybody! Happy tales, everyone!

Teaser:

Andrew finds his kids and also has a chat with... Kyuubi?


	9. Chapter 9: Introductions

Chapter Nine: Introductions 

It was the sudden flare of illumination that gained its attention, that triggered awareness and pulled it forward to take control.

Kyuubi blinked sleepily up at the cloth canopy, disoriented and confused. The fox raised a hand and covered its eyes against the brightness of the room, flicking out a tongue that felt thick to try and moisten dry lips as more and more aches made themselves known. The fox grimaced, grunting softly as it shifted around, inadvertently jostling the small body sprawled on top of its chest and prompting it to make small protesting noises. In apology, the demon removed the hand protecting its eyes and used it to rub the kit's yellow furred back.

The familiar situation triggered memories the fox thought long forgotten, adding to the feelings of displacement plaguing it. Though the rest of its body hurt, the demon's abdomen and lungs seemed to be the worst for wear; both areas felt strained, as if the muscles had been forced to work well beyond their limits and there was only one experience Kyuubi could link this to, the logic cementing the idea as the distinctive milky scent of babes filled its nose. The fox frowned.

Had the fox whelped? Had its littering been so intense as to make it pass out from pain and exertion? If that was true, then who had seeded its womb? Where was the fox's mate now that the kits had been born? Kyuubi scratched its head awkwardly, absently burying its nose in the fur of the kit laying on it. Sniffing delicately, the demon analyzed and memorized the smell, not having to work too hard to find the child's unique scent under the layer of Sasuke's.

_Sasuke… _

"Who are you?" Kyuubi turned toward the voice automatically, coming nose to nose with a child whose genetics had 'Uchiha' written all over them. The fox was mildly surprised at the lack of an uchiwa on the kid's red zip up pajama one piece. Blinking, the demon looked down at the child laying atop it, noticing the lack of an Uzumaki spiral on a yellow version of the brunette child's outfit.

_Aw hell…_ Kyuubi groaned, long and loud, as its brain finally engaged and returned to reality. It put a hand to its head, frowning as it felt the itch of a bandage over one eyebrow.

"You're not Sasuke." The child pressed, sitting up and frowning down at the fox. "Who are you?"

"I am Kyuubi." Coughing into one hand, the fox extended its other hand out and, after a moment of hesitation, the appendage was taken and pumped once before being released.

"I'm Brian." The little brunette said, unfazed in the least to be re-introduced to the same body. "That's Alex. What happened to Sasuke?"

The demon yawned and stretched its host's body gingerly as it woke up fully. Kyuubi idly scratched at the light stubble coating Sasuke's jaw, fingers exploring the large bruise on one side once the damage was found. "He is indisposed so here I am."

"'Indisposed?'" Brian's brows knit together. "You haven't hurt him have you? He's not in trouble is he?"

Propping Alex against its chest with one hand, the fox levered itself up into a sitting position and began slowly scooting forward until it sat on plain carpet. Brian followed, taking a seat across from the demon in the lake of moonlight covering the floor.

"Sasuke's mind needed to sleep a bit more than normal so he asked that I come out to keep you two company." Kyuubi explained, looking the boy in the eye.

Contrary to what most people would believe, the fox demon did not mind children on the whole, especially after its forced confinement inside of one. Children were carefree creatures, allowing their creativity to run rampant in any way that suited them and it was that same innocence and purity that Kyuubi admired. Naruto had not been talented or gifted but he had been creative in a way that no other child in Konoha had demonstrated. That creativity flowed and shifted depending on his mood or the goings-on around him and because of this his ability to adapt was bar none.

Kyuubi liked kids, it had loved Naruto as one of its own, but snarky, self righteous, little brats were another story entirely. Sasuke had been one of these as a child and the attitude problem had only increased after the massacre, making Kyuubi thankful on more than one occasion that it had not attacked a year earlier. Brian, though, for however much he looked like Sasuke, seemed to be nothing like that. Kyuubi could see the same intelligence, could sense the same potential in this boy as it had in Sasuke at that age, but unlike Konoha's youngest Uchiha, Brian appeared well rounded emotionally. At least so far.

The little brunette gave the fox a skeptical look. "He didn't ask you. What is he really doing? Is he mad at us?"

The last came out a bit uncertain and sad and Kyuubi reached out to the boy, putting a hand on Brian's head to ruffle the dark hair gently.

"He is not mad." The fox said firmly. "He just needed some quiet time for a little bit. He was really upset earlier, right?" Brian nodded. "Part of that is because he is not healing properly. He hurts here," The demon tapped its host's chest then cupped Sasuke's left hip and rubbed the thigh below it. "And in these places as well. His body is very weak and needs a little help. Speaking of which, I need some food…"

Brian stared as Sasuke's stomach chose that moment to give a feeble complaint that made Kyuubi pout at the boy pleadingly. "Well, we've got lots in the kitchen though we're not allowed to touch the stove at all. Using the microwave's okay though."

"'M hungry…" Alex grumbled, rousing. He rubbed at his eyes and leaned back until the arm around his waist prevented him from going any further. Frowning, the sleepy child looked up at the face of the person holding him.

"Kitsune." Alex said immediately.

Kyuubi blinked, feeling its barrowed lips twitch upward in an expression of pleasant surprise. _Perceptive child._ "Indeed."

"Did you possess Sasu?" Alex asked, titling his head in curiosity.

"In a manner of speaking." The fox drawled.

"But you said you hadn't done anything!" Brian said indignantly.

Kyuubi felt the beginnings of a headache stir and began rubbing at its temple. "Sasuke is sleeping, as I have explained, and since he is sleeping I am here to keep you company. However if you prefer have a comatose teenager as a companion…" For dramatic effect, the fox began to slump to one side as it loosened its grip on Alex and let the boy tumble from its lap. It let its eyes roll back pointedly before letting the eyelids shut as Sasuke's body keeled over.

When no shouts of surprise followed the little performance, Kyuubi covertly cracked an eye open.

"You get ten points for trying." Brian said blandly, making clapping motions and shrugging. Beside him, Alex nodded and mimed holding up a card.

"But minus five for bad acting." The blond added.

Kyuubi, slack jawed, gave up the pretense and sat up to stare at them. Then the fox huffed and folded its arms over its chest. It stuck its nose in the air with a pointed sniff.

"Philistines." It grumbled.

* * *

The only life form Andrew had been able to find was Carmen, Suki's pet albino boa constrictor. The snake had always given the blonde the creeps- it was a snake and scaly and definitely not something to have in the house with young children!- but the beast had proven its usefulness as a sentry time and time again so Andrew couldn't really complain. Once he'd wrangled the five foot peach and cream serpent out of the foyer and back into her room- not cage, room- he had sufficiently scolded Carmen (or "San Diego" as he called her, a joke few people understood but one he still found funny none-the-less), he had resumed his search, suddenly inspired to look in all of Suki's haunts.

By the time he was through, there was only one room left to check. Andrew was partially afraid of what he would find; he hadn't thought of it earlier because the room could get so damn cold in the winter and Alex knew to avoid cold places since it wasn't good for him. In retrospect, though, it probably should have been the room on the top of Andrew's list since in he summer it was a room where Suki and the twins spent so much time in. If, as he suspected, the twins had latched onto Sasuke as a surrogate for their mother the little indoor patio would be the logical place for them to take the teenager should they be the ones masterminding his current outing. Flicking the light switch as he passed it, Andrew turned the final corner in the illuminated hallway and nearly ran into the trio he had been hunting for as they came around the same corner.

Flanked by the twins, Sasuke, right hand covering his eyes, was frowning as he stood before Andrew. The teenager was favoring his left leg with most of his weight on balanced on his right and looked ready to fall over at any second. Beside him, the twins were also shielding their eyes and whining.

"It's so bright!" Brian said, rubbing at his eyes while Alex, palms pressed to his eyelids, nodded vigorously in agreement.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" Andrew said, not bothering to hide his irritation. "All _three_ of you."

Brian and Alex moved to hide behind Sasuke, looking out at their father from the safety of the teenager's legs.

"I can't believe you two!" The adult blonde continued, his earlier anger coming back with a vengeance as he spotted the open door to Suki's patio. He'd been right; they had been in that room and the air wafting from it made him shiver with cold. "I told you to leave Sasuke alone! I told you he was sick! You can't just go gallivanting off with him like he's some sort of new toy or a pet! Both of you two, go to you're room right this instant and don't move from there unless you are specifically told to do so! I mean it, not a _toe_ outside that door, gentlemen. Both of you are grounded! Honestly, Brian, I thought you at least would have more sense than to let your brother play in a freezing cold room!"

He immediately wanted to take the last back as Brian looked at the floor, the boy's lower lip trembling. Next to the raven haired child, Alex, though openly crying, was glaring defiantly up at his father. Dismayed but knowing he had to lay down the law, Andrew remained firm and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm waiting." He growled, pointedly tapping his slipper clad foot.

"As am I." The new voice startled Andrew and the blonde jumped slightly as he realized that Sasuke was the one who had spoken. The teenager covered his mouth and coughed briefly before taking a slow step forward, invading the tall blonde's personal space and forcing the latter to back up. "I am very hungry and I am tired of standing in this hall way unable to see. Stop screaming at your kits for doing something they believe in and get out of the way so we can find the kitchen."

"Kyuubi!" Brian scolded sternly, or at least as sternly as a crying child could. "Don't yell at Dad! We were bad so he has a right to be angry! C'mon Alex, we gotta go to our room."

"You spoke." Andrew said, surprised. Most coma patients did not wake up with their language skills intact, even those who were spoken to constantly while they were 'asleep.' "Kyuubi? I thought you said your name was Sasuke?" Andrew looked at the teenager, really looked at him, and forced himself to frown at the outfit even though all he wanted to do was smile at the T-shirt's wording: 'I put the fun in dysfunctional!' "Are those your mother's pajamas?"

"It is a long story." Sasuke said before the kids could respond, still holding a hand over his eyes. The brunette shifted slightly and grunted as he applied more weight to his left leg. "If you want answers, they need to stay with us and I need to eat."

"'Eat?'" Andrew parroted, confused.

The fingers hiding Sasuke's eyes spread and one squinting red eye appeared to glare at Andrew pointedly. "Kitchen, now. Answers, later."

"_Answers, later."_ The two words echoed in the blonde's head, over and over, making him feel triumphant and excited. Now they were getting somewhere! Now he could find out where Suki was! All Andrew had to do was feed the teenager.

Idly, the blonde congratulated himself for deciding to use the big soup pot.

* * *

"Was that leak soup?" Sasuke asked some time later, the teen eyeing the dregs inside his glass doubtfully. Initially, the contents had been chunkier and in a bowl as one would normally eat soup but when it became apparent that the brunette couldn't eat properly, everything had been dumped in the blender and pureed to a more drinkable form. Andrew eyed the darkly molted skin of the Sasuke's jaw underneath the sparse shading of stubble and couldn't completely repress the guilt that flashed through him.

"Yup!" Alex answered, happily finishing his own bowl. "Dad's is the best, right?"

"I believe I will reserve judgment on that until I can properly render a verdict." The teenager drawled around a yawn, easing back in his chair and rubbing a hand over his slightly distended belly. Sasuke had consumed glass after glass of pureed soup as well as several cans of chocolate flavored Ensure®, a high calorie nutrient drink. The company marketed the latter as a meal in can but it had taken three of said meals to satisfy Sasuke at this one and that was with Andrew's soup supplementing it!

"What's that mean?" Alex frowned, lips twisting.

"He means that he couldn't properly taste it after its trip to the blender." Andrew explained patiently, smiling down at his son. "Make sure you drink you're milk Brian- you need it so you can grow big and strong."

"Kyuubi's not drinking his!" The little brunette complained, pointing at the other brunette while eyeing the white liquid with distaste.

"Drink your milk, Sasuke."

"I am Kyuubi." The teenager glared at him, frowning.

"Drink your milk, Kyuubi." Andrew ordered, propping his chin in his hand as his elbow rested on the table. The blonde suppressed the urge to frown as his eyes drifted up to land on the bandage covering Sasuke's head wound, wondering if this new name was simply temporary after getting smacked in the head or if he was dealing with a multiple personality patient. The last was somewhat worrying and already Andrew began to mentally figure out what medications would be needed and calculating the appropriate dosages for Sasuke's weight.

He watched the teenager shoot him a look, the slitted pupils narrowed, as if sensing that the blonde male was blatantly being patronizing. But 'Kyuubi' did drink the glass of milk in front of him, which in turn made Brian drink his, and that was all that mattered.

"Are you done, then?" The adult blonde asked once all of their dishes were empty, trying and failing to hide his eagerness. Though it could have been for any of the three at the table in front of him, Andrew was addressing the question primarily at Kyuubi and, by the way the teenager glanced at him, the brunette knew it.

He nodded, slowly, a tongue flicking out to wet chapped lips.

"Boys, will you please rinse the dishes and put them in the dishwasher?" Andrew asked, the request anything but. After quick glances between themselves and between the two elder males, Alex and Brian scrambled down from their high wooden kitchen chairs and started clearing the table.

Taking a deep breath to help himself calm down, Andrew let it out slowly before he began asking questions. "Were you on the plane with my wife?"

"No." Kyuubi said with a small shake of his head.

Changing tactics, Andrew repeated the question with a slight augmentation. "Was Sasuke on the plane at all with my wife?"

At this the teenager smiled, one dark eyebrow arching upward. "No. None of us were on the plane with your wife."

Andrew had the feeling that Kyuubi was playing with him. Suddenly the suspicion of multiple personalities became more concrete and the blonde supposed that this was something he should have expected; there was no limit on how many personalities could exist within one person but it seemed that, from what Andrew had seen, Sasuke seemed to be a submissive personality while Kyuubi was the dominant among however many individuals may be within the brunette's skull. "Do any of you know Suki or have known Suki in the past?"

"No. I do not know this Suki." Kyuubi said. He tilted his head. "I presume that this is the name of your wife? How long have you been married?"

"Yes. Her name is Suki Pryderi and we have been married for ten years." Andrew answered knowing that, when negotiating, one had togive a little in order to get a little. "She has been missing since her plane went down about a month ago. We found Sasuke shortly afterwards."

"Hmm." Kyuubi's red eyes disappeared from view for a moment as the teenager closed his eyes in thought. He put his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together, and leaned forward slightly to rest his forehead on his intertwined fingers. "I've been meaning to ask about that. How badly damaged was Sasuke? What was the extent of his injuries when he was fished out of the ocean?"

"If you know where you were, why don't you know how hurt you were?" Andrew countered, slightly angry. If 'Kyuubi' knew about being in the ocean, then why was he denying knowledge about the plane? Unless he had been on a deep sea fishing trawler (which he hadn't because none had been in the area- Andrew had checked), there was no way to get that far out other than by plane.

Blinking mildly, Kyuubi raised his head enough to rest his cheek carefully on his fingers. "I put forth considerable effort to heal the more serious wounds before we hit water. I wish to know if I missed any other imminent threats."

"Serious wounds?"

Kyuubi yawned, not bothering to conceal the action. "Sasuke's body was nearly torn in two across his middle and he had lost his left arm from the elbow down. As you can see, though, he is currently in one piece."

Andrew frowned, looking over the teenager with obvious doubt. "No human could survive that kind of damage, not unless there was immediate surgical intervention. No one can re-grow body parts."

"I can." The teenager smirked, then yawned again. "I need some sleep."

"You haven't answered my questions."

"I have," Kyuubi said in a neutral tone. "You just do not like the answers."

Biting back the urge to scream in frustration, Andrew ground his teeth together, clenching his jaw until it ached. "What is Sasuke's full name?"

"Why?"

It was the only question the teenager had not answered outright. This immediately caught Andrew's attention and made him not let the question go. If Kyuubi was the dominant personality, it was also more than likely the protector of the more submissive Sasuke personality. Andrew had asked Kyuubi questions with no problem until now.

"Surely Sasuke's family is out there somewhere looking for him." Andrew reasoned gently. Persuasion personified. "As a parent, I don't know what I would do if Alex or Brian went missing. It'd kill me not knowing where they were."

"He has no family." Kyuubi said shortly, eyes narrowed to slits- a clear warning to drop the subject.

_"I have no family, Andrew."_ But Suki had lied, he had found out as much later.

"I don't believe that." The blonde said, voice full of growing conviction. "Let Sasuke out to talk to me and I'll ask him directly. I won't believe it until he says it himself."

Kyuubi sneered at him, sitting back in his chair with a yawn, suddenly relaxed in a way that put Andrew on edge. "You would not believe it even if he did tell you."

"So long as he's truthful I will."

"Well then." The brunette rolled his shoulders and scratched at the stubble on the unmarred side of his jaw. "You two just enjoy your little… chat. I will stay out of it unless you request my presence or agitate him too much."

"If I agitate him too much?" The blonde leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. "I just want to ask him a few simple questions about himself. That shouldn't be too anxiety inspiring."

Kyuubi closed his eyes but continued to smile. "The fact that you believe such questions are 'simple' shows just how naïve you are. Shows how much damage you can do if you are so thoughtless." The teenager shook his head, smile bitter. "You will upset him then drug him into mindless incapacitation as you have been doing, thus undoing all the work I have done,. Perhaps I will stay put for the time being. Yes," The teenager drawled, seeing Andrew's obvious annoyance and enjoying it. "I think that you will just have to talk to me for a while longer."

"What if I knew when he was upset?" Andrew offered, excited as an idea suddenly struck him. "If I had some sort of warning, I could ask my questions safely because I would be able to tell when he was becoming anxious."

Kyuubi blinked at him, tilting his head as he studied Andrew. "It depends on the method. No drugs, no electrodes, no needles of any kind, no tags, no collars."

_No…tags?_ Andrew wondered, briefly puzzled before realizing that the teenager was speaking of the numbered tags used to mark an animal's ear. Affronted, Andrew let his genuine disgust over the idea show openly. "God, no! He's a human being, for God's sake!"

This was apparently the correct response because Kyuubi's shoulders relaxed as the brunette smiled.

Shuddering visibly over the whole tag affair, Andrew plowed on. "What about a sticker? A small removable patch that would be placed over a pulse point with adhesive? Would that be suitable?"

"Nothing implanted?"

"Nothing implanted. No drugs of any kind lacing it. No hidden anything beyond a small chip inside the patch."

"Easily removable?"

"A good tug will pull it right off."

"And if we do pull it off?"

"No repercussions."

"And the questions?"

Andrew sighed heavily, suddenly weary as the adrenaline rush left his system. He had to get Sasuke to talk to him! He had to get some answers that he could work with and that would only happen if Kyuubi backed off and let the other personality out. "Then you will just have to monitor his vitals and warn me if it becomes too much for him to handle."

There was a long stretch of silence between them, both studying the other as they listened to the soft clink of plates as the children loaded the dishwasher.

"Fine." Kyuubi said suddenly. To the blonde's surprise, he held out a wrist, offering it. "You have three minutes."

The little bastard had given him a time limit! Shooting the teen a glare, Andrew nearly fell out of his chair as he tried to stand with his legs still crossed. Kyuubi raised an eye at him, goading him, and Andrew realized that he would have to run in order to meet the given deadline since the device he'd mentioned was in his office on the other side of the house. At least he had everything here- the blonde didn't know what he would have done had everything been at the hospital miles away. "Stay right there! I'll go get it, just don't move."

The blonde practically flew as he ran down the hall, barely able to avoid careening into hallway furniture or walls as he rushed to his office to get the promised item and his laptop. On the return trip he nearly mowed down Frank as the other man came down the last stair of the main stairway.

"I need you to look up anything related to the name 'Kyuubi!'" Andrew panted, staying only long enough to make sure that Frank had heard him. He then jogged toward the kitchen without another word, already pulling apart the foil packaging surrounding the little patch as he juggled it and his computer.

_Fifteen seconds, fourteen…_

He skidded as he slowed his rush down the remaining hallway, and barely managed to pivot through the kitchen doorway safely with the piece of wax paper the patch was stuck to hanging from his teeth.

_Ten... Nine..._

He stopped abruptly, staring at the scene before him. Brian and Alex were sitting on the table in front of Kyuubi, the three apparently finishing a conversation, while Carmen, free once again, slowly slithered up the older brunette's leg and onto his lap.

"You have five seconds remaining." The teenager reminded him, seemingly unbothered by the constrictor even as it began to wrap itself around his upper body. His wrist was still held out in the exact position as when Andrew had left. "Three."

The blonde practically lunged forward, hurriedly placing his laptop on the table and snatching the proffered wrist roughly.

"You are hurting me." Kyuubi growled, ignoring the serpent that was now licking the shell of his ear. "Two."

But Andrew was already placing the patch, getting one edge to stick then peeling the wax paper away, panting as he concentrated on getting it right the first time since he doubted Kyuubi would allow him a another try.

"Right down to the last second." The teenager closed his eyes, smiling faintly as Andrew rubbed the wrist he held and smoothed the patch flat, checking for any reaction between Kyuubi's skin and the adhesive before finally letting it go.

Pulling over a chair and slumping down into it, Andrew let out a relieved sigh as he opened his computer and turned it on. After typing in his password to log in, the blonde called up the appropriate program and began filling in the necessary information. He shot an irritated glare at the teenager who only looked back at him mildly, ignoring Carmen as he licked one pale temple.

"So are you a boy kitsune or a girl kitsune?" Alex asked, idly swinging his legs as they dangled over the table edge.

"I am kitsune. I am both and I am neither." Kyuubi said, turning slightly in the snake's direction. "I have had a bath already, please stop licking me. I am not your beloved mistress."

Andrew's fingers froze as he looked over at the teenager who was so calmly addressing the python. "How did you know that?"

"Know what?" Kyuubi asked absently, still looking at the snake, apparently in the middle of a staring match. Narrowed red eyes met unblinking ones as the owner of the latter opened its mouth and hissed threateningly. The teen growled. "Bite me and I will bite back."

"You know that San Diego is Suki's. How did you know that?" Andrew pressed.

"He told me." The teenager said simply, freeing one hand to stroke the underside of the now calm snake. "He thought that I was your wife. He says that Sasuke and Suki smell the same. He misses her as much as you do and so he came to investigate."

Kyuubi turned to look at Andrew then as he continued to pet the serpent, stroking its head or whatever other body part the snake pushed against his fingers.

Andrew compressed his lips into an angry line and turned back to his computer screen, punching the keys with more force than was perhaps necessary.

"How can you be both? You're in Sasuke, right, so doesn't that automatically make you a boy since Sasuke's a boy?" Brian asked, returning to the previous discussion now that his father was preoccupied. He tilted his head to the side as he sat Indian fashion on the table.

"How many tails do you have?" Alex asked suddenly, clearly excited and already moving on to another topic. "Mom said that kitsunes have tails so how many do you have."

"Nine." Kyuubi answered, watching the child practically bounce in his seat. He turned to Brian who had been waited patiently for an answer to his question. "Sasuke is male, yes, but I am not him nor am I human. If I was in my own body, I would be able to both father children or carry them to term."

Brian frowned, eyebrows knitting together as he tried to figure out Kyuubi's answer. The boy's mouth opened, clearly ready to pursue the issue, but Andrew cut in.

"I think that's enough for now!" The blonde said loudly, irritated at the faint blush dusting his cheeks. "**That** particular talk you will have with me and your mother later and I would appreciate it if you, Kyuubi, did not say anything further on the subject!"

The teenager shrugged and nodded, unperturbed by the request. "As you wish. I will direct them your way should they ask anything further about sex."

"Sex? You mean how babies are made?" Alex asked, blinking as he looked between the two adults.

"Yes, how babies are made." Kyuubi answered smoothly, then, before Andrew could interject, "Ask your father for further instructions on the process." The twins, naturally, looked at their father expectantly.

"Kyuubi!" Andrew hissed angrily then tried to think of a way of how to handle the problem. A stroke of brilliance came to him. "You're not old enough to know yet."

"Mommy said that having sex with you was how Alex and I were put in her tummy to grow." Brian frowned. "Does that mean you have more babies inside you, Daddy? Is that what Kyuubi meant about being able to carry children?"

"Um, no." _Thanks a lot, Suki darling._ This conversation was becoming more and more strange, giving the situation a surreal quality as Andrew tried to find a way to explain sex without having to tell all the details.

"Does that mean you're not a boy either?" Alex asked suddenly.

He'd had enough. "I am very, very male and men cannot bare children!" Andrew said sternly, cheeks heating as he perceived that his masculinity was being threatened. "You are male! So is your brother and so is _Sasuke_. He cannot carry children- that's something only women can do." He gave the teenager a pointed look, clearly telling the brunette to drop the subject completely.

"But Kyuubi isn't human." Alex argued, frowning as he looked between his father and new playmate. "Sasuke is but Kyuubi isn't."

"But Sasuke's body is human." Brian pointed out, folding his arms over his chest as he thought this through. The twins began to talk amongst themselves, unconsciously swapping over to their play language as they continued the discussion.

Kyuubi smirked at Andrew in amusement, an eyebrow arching as if questioning the soundness of Andrew's logic. But he kept his mouth shut and allowed Brian and Alex to make their own conclusions as his attention suddenly shifted to something above them all. His eyebrows furrowing, the teenager looked upward at the ceiling, mouth flattening into a tight line.

Disaster averted, Andrew got back to the task at hand. "I'd like to do a quick exam, if you don't mind, to get some base line readings… What's wrong?"

Kyuubi, looking pained and annoyed, had put his hands up to cover his ears. "My hearing is sensitive. I can hear things that I have no wish to and cannot speak about since it is apparently forbidden territory." The teenager ground out, looking more and more pained as it shot disgusted looks at the ceiling.

Andrew blinked, confused. He glanced upward but heard nothing. "You're room partially overlaps the space above us. It's empty so I'm not sure what your problem is."

"It is not empty. There is squeaking." Kyuubi said the last slowly with a meaningful look that the blonde felt like heat against his skin.

"My home is rodent free." Andrew said, annoyed, pointedly looking at Carmen. Honestly, with a python that may as well have been the reincarnated form of Houdini roaming around, where on earth would vermin be able to hide?

"I think that you are very wrong about that." The teen returned angrily. "I will need a new room, please. Mine has been tainted and I will not stay in there."

The wheels in Andrew's head began to turn and he smiled slyly. "Tell me what Sasuke's full name is."

Disgust with the blonde written all over his face, Kyuubi struggled to his feet after carefully disentangling himself from Carmen. He set the snake on the floor, bending over in the process with a pained noise. Straightening, the teen stepped closer to Andrew's chair, leaning down as if for a kiss and Andrew's heart gave a strange lurch until he realized that the brunette was not after his lips but his ear. "There are members of your household **fucking** in my room, soiling my bed, and you are still harping about Sasuke's _name_?!"

"You're hearing things." Andrew replied, turning slightly so that he could whisper his reply in the teenager's ear, intentionally keeping his voice low. "It's your imagination." He watched as the muscles in the brunette's jaw worked and clenched, swearing that he could also hear teeth grinding against one another.

"I can hear them as well as I can hear someone's stereo playing some instrumental piece softly. Piano, I believe." Kyuubi hissed in the blonde's ear, each word having a clear bite to it and warning of how angry the teen was. "I can hear Aiko fussing in her crib, gearing up to cry. I can hear someone pacing in their room upstairs, and someone else on this floor typing." Clear anger faded into something husky, tone becoming disturbingly teasing and low as warm breath tickled Andrew's ear, making him shiver. "I can hear the woman moaning 'Hikaru! Hikaru!' over and over as they rut above us just as clearly as I can hear your heart beating so fast beneath me."

With the last the blonde jerked away and the teen straightened into a relatively upright position.

"I am going to sleep for twelve hours." Kyuubi announced, watching Andrew's face. "Do not disturb me during this period. Ask your questions when Sasuke wakes but stick to our deal or face my wrath." He began to limp across the kitchen floor toward the doorway that led further into the depths of the house.

Apparently, Kyuubi was serious about not returning to his designated room and Andrew shook his head over the defiant display, already dismissing the teenager's claims as figments of his imagination. Hikaru having sex in _Sasuke's_ room of all places? There was no way his brother-in-law was that crass!

Then what Kyuubi had said sunk in. "What do you mean _twelve_ _hours_?!" Andrew shouted down the direction Kyuubi had gone. He quickly helped the twins off the table then ran after the teenager, catching up to the brunette in a second. Andrew snagged Kyuubi's elbow and used it to spin the teenager around so they faced one another. "I can't wait that long! Why can't you wake Sasuke up right now?"

"It does not work that way!" Kyuubi growled, wobbling slightly in the blonde's grip as his voice took on a sleepy edge. "We have to rest and you are just going to have to wait."

Andrew felt himself losing his patience, especially once the teenager began to slump where he stood. He reminded himself that it was a miracle Sasuke had woken up, that he had been able to have a coherent conversation with Kyuubi, and that the teen was alive at all.

Fighting down the persistent urge to shake the brunette until he got some answers, the blonde sucked in a breath and held it, mentally counting to ten before letting it go, and pulled the brunette against him before the latter could hit the floor. After dipping to the side until he could hook his arm under Kyuubi's knees, Andrew straitened, bouncing the teenager slightly to adjust and balance the brunette's weight, shifting him until both were comfortable.

Puffing his cheeks out briefly, the blonde sighed in defeat as Kyuubi became increasingly lethargic in his arms. He turned and headed back toward the kitchen. "So why the twelve hour time limit?"

"'S how long it will take to fix…" Kyuubi coughed hard into his right hand and made a vague body encompassing gesture with his left. Once the fit had passed, the hand dropped to his chest as the teenager slumped against the blond and began to snore softly.

"Hey, is Kyuu-chan alright?" Alex asked as Andrew neared the table. The boy's anxiety was momentarily disrupted as he yawned.

"His name is Kyuubi!" Brian said then tried to continued to speak around the yawn cracking his own small jaws. "You can't call him 'Kyuu-chan!'"

"But we call Sasuke 'Sasu.'" Alex pointed out, pouting. "And he doesn't mind. What if we just call Kyuubi 'Kyu?'"

"Boys!" Andrew said reproachfully to get their attention. "Kyuubi's fine. It's time for everyone to be in bed anyway. You two go get under the covers and I'll be there to tuck you in in a few minutes. Daddy needs to go upstairs for a moment."

"Bed time story?" Alex asked hopefully.

Andrew shot the pair a look. "You two deliberately disobeyed me tonight." _"Stop screaming at your kits for doing something they believe in…"_ "I'm grounding you for the night- that means no story."

"'Kay." Brian sighed, a tad sulky. He took Alex's hand and began to lead his brother in the direction of their bedroom.

As the pair left, Andrew looked down at the floor, realizing that the python had disappeared. Again. Frowning since this was yet another problem to deal with later, the blonde set off for the second floor, forced to navigate the stairs with more care than was pretty. By the time he made it upstairs, he was panting and the teenager he held seemed to have doubled in weight. Grumbling in annoyance, Andrew made a mental note to add another mile to his jogging regiment and more weight to the bench press for his upper body workout. He was only thirty two and Andrew thought that it was insulting to be having this much trouble going up a flight of stairs when Sasuke didn't even weigh that much!

It must be because he was tired, the blonde reasoned. That was it; Andrew had had a very stressful day and it was affecting his physical prowess in a negative manner.

Satisfied with this self-deluding logic, the blonde took the left turn off the upper landing that would lead him back toward Sasuke's assigned room and the kitchen below.

"San Diego!!" Andrew hissed in alarm, trying not to jostle his cargo as he quickstepped down the hall after the snake heading straight for Sasuke's open bedroom doorway. "San Diego get back here!"

He was trying to be quiet and, for the most part, thought he was doing quite well but Sasuke was not of the same mind. The teenager gave a low moan, his right hand suddenly fisting in Andrew's T-shirt, and the blonde stopped, freezing as he heard a muffled pop come from inside the brunette.

Down the hall, Carmen slithered through the open door, disappearing into the darkness beyond with a flick of his tale.

"Sasuke?" Andrew asked softly, looking down at the other male. He moved the hand supporting Sasuke's shoulders, sliding it down and splaying his fingers against the teenager's back. The blonde nearly dropped him when something against his palm shifted.

Suddenly fearing broken ribs, Andrew took exaggerated care as he cleared the short distance separating him from the brunette's bedroom but just outside the door a noise from inside the room caught the blonde's attention.

_Was that… a giggle?_ Andrew's eyebrows shot into his hairline. _No, no it had to be…_He heard it again but this time it was followed by a low masculine rumble.

Sasuke momentarily forgotten in the wake of this new discovery, Andrew stared at the door, trying to process the information without actually doing so, trying to brush it off a coincidence or something logical. Another sound piqued his ear and the blonde turned toward it automatically, gut suddenly filled with trepidation as he detected a few distant notes of something by Beethoven or Bach.

_Suki would have known,_ Andrew thought inanely, feeling his eyes widen as a loud curse sounded from inside the room in front of him.

"I've got to go." It was Hikaru's voice and suddenly there were footsteps as the man hurried about. "Aiko's crying."

Andrew could only stare at the door, numb, as Kyuubi's words came true.

"_I can here hear the woman moaning 'Hikaru! Hikaru!..."_

There were only two women currently residing inside the predominantly male household, one of which was asleep in her room.

There was a sigh in response. "We'll continue later, Honey?"

A grunt and the room's main light flicking on were her only answer. Then the door was being pulled open and suddenly a surprised Hikaru and incredulous Andrew were standing face to over an unconscious brunette.

"Jesus!" Hikaru cried, jumping backwards, startled. "God damn it, Andrew, don't do shit like that!" He had a hand on his chest over his heart, his cheeks flushed. His usually straight hair was mussed, as if someone had grabbed handfuls of it.

"What are you doing in here?" The blonde asked, pleased that his voice was calm and normal.

"I was helping Violet with her duties." Hikaru said, expression becoming its normal bland self. "She didn't want to be alone up here with Sasuke but surprise, surprise, he wasn't in here."

The sarcasm in his voice was thick enough to walk on.

"Hello Mr. Pryderi!" Violet greeted cheerfully, moving into view behind the brunette's right shoulder. She was busily straightening the bed sheets, her well manicured hands smoothing the comforter briskly as she went from one side of the bed to the other. Apart from the wrinkles in her normally pleated skirt, there was nothing o indicate that anything untoward had been going on.

"I've got to go get Aiko." Hikaru said as the baby monitor hooked to his belt let out a wail. Silently, Andrew moved himself and the teenager in his arms out of the other man's way, watching as the other brunette turned the corner and descended the stairs.

"You found him, I see." Violet noted, smiling brightly as the blonde came into the room. She began fluffing the bed pillows.

"Hey Violet." Andrew began after a few minutes of watching her work. He shifted the teenager in his arms, suddenly unwilling to let the pale body touch any section of the bed. "I'm a little surprised to find you in here at this time of night. It's a bit late to be making beds."

"Well," She said, straightening up and frowning at him. "I know but I wanted to tidy up Sasuke's room up before I turned in for the night. I hate having work waiting for me and tomorrow will be busy enough what with all the last minute Christmas decorations. I didn't see the harm in lessening my work load but I apologize if I've done something wrong."

She looked so damn sincere…

Andrew smiled at her, relaxing but still not setting Sasuke down. "I'm so glad I decided to hire you!" He said and watched her blush, clearly pleased. "To be honest, I'd heard some rather unflattering things about you from other people but I believe in making my own judgments about people. You work very hard for such a beautiful young woman! You're devoted to my family, you help care for my children and Aiko as if they are your own. I've been trying to think up a better title for your position since you are truly so much more than a maid."

Violet ducked her head, flushing darkly as she folded her hands in front of her. "Th-thank you, Mr. Pryderi! Thank you so much!"

"Please," He said, grinning at her, gesturing vaguely with the elbow supporting Sasuke's knees. "Call me Andrew! I consider you one of the family!"

"Oh, Sir! I-"

"And since you're family, I think it's time to let you in on some of the unspoken rules of this household." Andrew said with a nod, as if coming to some great decision. Sakura waited anxiously, eyes bright and expectant. "As you may have heard, I'm very picky about who I bring into my home. I have young children to think about, you understand, and with Suki and I trying to have more, well…" he shrugged his shoulders, the action making Sasuke's feet bob in the process.

Violet nodded vigorously in understanding, though Andrew had not missed the brief tightening around her eyes when he had mentioned plans for future children with his wife. "I know what you mean Sir. So many women don't take their duties seriously and it is usually children who suffer the most for their negligence."

Andrew nodded solemnly. "Exactly, Violet. I'm so glad you see my point. It makes me feel reassured about you being here around my family." He smiled at her again. "Now, let me get to those rules I mentioned. They're small things and maybe a little silly, but I assure you that they are deal breakers. Unlike the rules you were given when you were hired, there is no wiggle room. These cannot be broken under any circumstances. Understood?"

Violet nodded and Andrew noted that, finally, she looked nervous.

"Again, they're silly things, really." The blonde grimaced in a self depreciating manner, letting out a small embarrassed laugh with it. "One is that I do not condone lying. I value honesty, as does my wife, and I am trying to instill that virtue in my children."

She nodded, looking as serious and attentive as he had ever seen her. About time, in Andrew's opinion.

"The second rule is that I will not tolerate any one else's agenda within my home. You live here under my roof. You are considered family and, as such, I expect anyone who works for me to consider my family as their own. Their needs come before anyone else's. It's a bit egocentric, I admit, but along with your duties you are also being paid for your loyalty. Betrayal is definitely not something you want to do here and anything that will harm a family member or this family's reputation constitutes as betrayal."

Again she nodded silently, though she had paled several shades.

Andrew sighed heavily, shoulders sagging but then he straightened, as if forcing himself to go on when he'd rather not. "Because of your caring nature, something I truly value, I feel I cannot stress this last rule enough. Violet, I'm a prude."

She blinked, startled.

"It's my puritan heritage catching up to me, I know, but I will not tolerate casual sexual escapades within my home." Andrew said in a mock serious tone. "Variety is the spice of life and all that- fine- but the thought of other people doing such things on my couch or **bed** makes me so sick that I'll **fire** any staff involved on the spot! I can assure you that anyone like that wouldn't be in my home for long, family or not, and that they could expect a less than glowing reference in the future." He stomped his foot childishly and stuck his nose in the air but his eyes remained riveted on the pink haired maid to gauge her reaction. "A relationship between two consenting adults is fine, sex is fine, but anything like that is to be done in your rooms. The kids grow up fast enough without getting any help, you know?"

He grinned and Violet offered a watery one back.

"Hikaru, despite his age, is not a consenting adult right now." He continued, all amusement gone. The blonde pinned the girl with his piercing blue eyes. "As you may know, he is embroiled in a rather nasty custody battle with Aiko's mother. As powerful a man as he is, he's vulnerable right now and may be seeking companionship but I promise that it is not **long-term** companionship. Anything right now is a fling and I suspect that is how things will be for a while, especially with Aiko getting so big so fast. She is the number one girl in his life, anyone else will **always **take second place."

"Do you understand?" Andrew asked slowly, voice low and holding so many things left unsaid.

Suddenly looking sickly, never looking away from his stare, Violet nodded once.

Andrew nodded back, once. "I hate to ruin your good work, but can you turn down the sheets for me. Sasuke is becoming quite heavy."

She blinked slowly, her gaze going to the bed between them. "The sheets…"

"Yes. Can you turn them down, please?" The blonde asked patiently, ignoring the ache in his arms.

"Oh." Then in a horrified voice. "Oh!" Her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes wide as she stared at the bed. "Mr. Pryderi! I'm so sorry but I just remembered that Sasuke's sheets need to be washed! It will take me a while to strip everything and remake the bed! I'm so sorry, it completely slipped my mind!" She looked over at him, expression pleading as she whispered out another apology. "I'm so sorry."

She knew he knew and he knew that she knew he knew.

After a few seconds of silence, Andrew's face lit up with a laugh. He smiled at her. "That's alright! The other guest rooms are all made up right? I'll just go put him in one of them. Not a problem, Violet, don't worry. I know how chaotic tending to your…duties can be." He let his smile slip a bit as he lifted Sasuke higher and headed for the door.

"Have a peaceful night, Violet." He tossed quietly over his shoulder, watching dispassionately as she sunk to the floor, staring blankly at the carpet.

Mouth set in a grim line, Andrew walked past the stairway and began peeking in the doors of the other second floor guest rooms.

* * *

More's Moment:

Well, there we go, another chapter done. I think most of you have already picked up on how a chat between Sasuke and Andrew are going to go. For those of you wondering what I'm talking about, go back and read the interaction between Sasuke and any one after he wakes who is not Brian or Alex. This chapter may have been a bit boring for some readers (very little SasuNaru, I know) but there are other characters we have yet to really explore.

So, Andrew and Kyuubi have officially met and Andrew still hasn't gotten the answers he wanted and the answers he did get aren't the ones he wanted to hear. And on top of that, the fox making him work for them pretty hard! Kyuubi doesn't know Suki but maybe Sasuke does…?

We've also gotten a bit of a glimpse into the behind the scenes dynamics of the house hold. Hikaru's banging the maid Violet (or this world's Sakura) and Andrew doesn't want it in his house. It's hard to say whose side the blonde is on. He probably doesn't even know.

This sounds a bit odd but for those of you who review on a consistent basis (Thank you so much, btw!) I would like to know which you would prefer for Sasuke's wake up, a cute cuddly awakening or something more jarring? Let me know, please.


	10. Chapter 10: Bonds

**Chapter 10: Bonds**

* * *

By the time the hall clock chimed three AM, six year old Brian Pryderi was an emotional wreck. He'd been trying to sleep all night but it had eluded him, making him toss and turn for hours as he worried and fretted, fearing that Sasuke was going to be sent away in the morning. Currently, he was laying in Alex's bed, curled around his favorite bear, hoping that his brother's nearness would help calm him enough to at least get some rest that night.

What if Sasuke went back to the hospital and they never saw him again?

Would they ever see Mommy again?

These questions plagued him, running rampant and Brian gnawed on his lower lip, unheeding of the wounds it caused. He snuggled closer to Alex's warm body as his young mind attempted to come up with answers and find some comfort now that he had crawled in with his brother. Mommy had known what would happen, the brunette finally determined. Somehow she had known ahead of time that this was going to happen and that was why several weeks ago she had told the twins that Sasuke would be coming. She hadn't called him by name or anything but she had _known_ and that had to be why she had told the twins to accept and to help him. She had said that he would be family and they were to treat him as such.

"Think of this person as an elder sibling or cousin." She had said, running her fingers through his hair after Brian had voiced concerns over having a stranger in the house. "They'll protect you and play with you while I'm away."

"But how do you know that they'll do any of those things?" Brian had been forced to whisper since Alex was asleep next to him. "What if they're mean? What if we don't want them here?"

She had smiled and kissed his forehead and given him that smile that meant she knew more than she was telling. "Trust me. I love you very much and I am sure that they will too. You'll see."

And that was the last conversation they had had. A week later, the plane bringing her back home from her trip to Japan had exploded over the ocean. One week after that, Sasuke had been discovered amid the floating wreckage and Brian had found out exactly what his mother meant the first time he'd laid eyes on the unconscious teenager.

He didn't understand it, but Brian believed that Sasuke being here, remaining with the Pryderi family, was important somehow to his mother's safe return. Sasuke had to stay here- their father couldn't be allowed to send the teenager away. Besides, all in all, it wasn't like the trio had done anything _really_ bad. Okay, so he and Alex had tried to hide Sasuke in a place that the boys knew they shouldn't have been in but it wasn't like anything had happened. They'd all been fine though the boys had inadvertently made Sasuke upset… Which had led to the appearance of Kyuubi… and then Daddy had gotten angry…

But surely not angry enough to send Sasuke away, not if Daddy was willing to run all over the place then _carry_ Sasuke to bed….

The last was reassuring to Brian but just as the tightness in his chest began to ease, another thought made the sensation return and grow. His anxiety doubled, tripled, as he thought about Sasuke's behavior prior to Kyuubi's arrival.

The boys had made him cry…

What if Sasuke didn't want to stay with them anymore?

* * *

Getting upstairs had been the easy part, Brian knew as he chanced a quick glance up and down the upstairs hallway. Finding it empty, he cleared the last step and turned left, walking backward down the short hall toward Sasuke's room, ears straining for any sounds that might indicate anyone was coming and eyes watching for any sign that the doors lining the hall were about to open. After turning around and stretching the few necessary inches to close the gap between himself and the doorknob, he used both hands to turn the doorknob, the door swinging inward immediately due to his body weight leaning against it.

"Sasuke?" He whispered as he stepped just inside the doorway, not bothering to hide the blatant panic in his tone as he continued to throw glances behind him at the empty hallway. "Sasuke?"

The room was too dark to see properly so, after shutting the door softly, Brian stretched a small hand out to feel for the wall switch near the door. Flicking it caused light to flood the room's interior and for several minutes, the boy could only stand, blinking and rubbing his eyes until the focused enough to allow him to see. When he could, Brian's gaze immediately focused on the bed, the strange sensation of the floor falling out from under him as he took a few shaky steps into the room and collapsed to his knees.

_No! No, no, no, no, no!_

The bed was empty. The sheets had been changed during the night from red to dove grey, the bed made ready for a new occupant. The monitors that had been charting Sasuke's health had been removed and no trace remained to say that they had ever been there to begin with. Even the small safe that had held all of Sasuke's medication was gone. Someone had cleaned and repaired the bathroom doorway and beyond it Brian could see fresh towels draped over the towel racks. The rug beneath the boy had been vacuumed and the stain where Sasuke had bled onto the carpet had been cleared.

The room was absolutely silent and empty of any signs of being previously occupied.

Sasuke was gone.

Brian collapsed to his knees and burst into tears, staying that way for what felt like a long, long time. He sobbed and wailed, uncaring now if he was discovered as his chest ached fiercely. The pain added to the snarl of emotions all trying to be expressed at once, mangling coherent thought until all the little boy could do was to simply cry helplessly.

Dimly he was aware of the door opening behind him, of footsteps muffled by carpet, but he ignored it. He wanted comfort- badly- but Mommy wasn't here and Sasuke wasn't here and Brian really didn't want to see his father right then because the boy was sure he was just going to scream at him.

He continued to sob, pulling away from the light touch at his shoulder with a cry, flailing his arms. He shoved at the presence next to him, drew ragged breath and screamed wordlessly, small fists hitting the other person until they were finally grabbed. They were held firmly, one each pinned within a much larger fist, and that sensation, the mismatched feel of the other person's left and right palms against his skin, made Brian stop crying long enough to look at the person kneeling next to him before throwing himself at them. He wrapped his arms around the other's neck tightly, legs circling the other's upper waist, refusing to let go as he buried his face in the other's chest and cried with relief as an arm slid under his bottom to support him and another began rubbing hesitant circles on his back.

The chest was broad and smooth, no breasts to compete with for space as Brian placed his head over the other's heart, listening to the slow but steady thump. The fingers of the right and that wiped away his tears were callused and rough even as they attempted to be gentle. The chin that grazed his forehead was scratchy with course stubble, not soft or rounded. The smell wasn't light and femininely floral from a favored perfume, but slightly bittersweet from the film of sweat clinging to the pale skin and musky but not unpleasantly so.

Underneath the residue of fading bath products and sweat though was something that couldn't be bottled or replicated, duplicated or faked; the same smell that he knew had lain under his mother's perfume when his nose was pressed firmly to her warm skin.

Sasuke was not Mommy, was not a substitute for her in any way, but…But…

Brian could not make himself let go.

* * *

Supporting the smaller brunette by placing an arm underneath him, Sasuke stood and left his former room, covering a yawn with his free hand as he walked easily down the hall toward the stairway. Though his left side still throbbed uncomfortably now and then, his injured leg was supporting weight extremely well as was his renewed arm. He felt himself sigh in relief- a little exercise and they'd be back to minimal fighting strength. He was still tired though and, when they came to the intersection of the hall and the upper stairway landing, longed instantly to return to his room to curl back up in his nest of warm bedclothes, especially so when another yawn forced his jaws open. Turning his head politely to the side away from Brian, Sasuke carefully felt for the first step with his toes and descended, rubbing comforting circles on the clinging boy's back as they went down.

_Well someone's really worked up. You think it was a nightmare?_ Sasuke nearly tripped down the last step at the order, his still rousing mind easily startled by Naruto's voice. When he was on firmer ground, the brunette looked around, the action seemingly completely normal until he remembered that Naruto, a spirit, currently existed inside him, was no longer had a physical presence. The lingering guilt and sadness that should have immediately followed that realization was firmly squashed before it could take form, smothered by the blonde's warm presence as the latter steadily flowed through the Uchiha's pale frame.

A soft, pleased noise escaped Sasuke as he blushed at the foreign sensation pooling inside him, the feeling vaguely sexual though predominately comforting and all of it provoking a pleasurable shudder that rippled through the Uchiha as he navigated the darkened hallways.

"You okay, Sasu?" Brian asked, watery dark eyes blinking up at the elder in puzzlement.

Yawning, the elder brunette nodded and bounced his companion higher up on his shoulder. Shifting the boy's weight, Sasuke scrubbed absently at his eyes with his free hand. "Where's your room? It's too early for either of us to be up."

Brian looked down at the floor, one hand fisting tightly in Sasuke's shirt over the elder's collar bone. Hesitantly, he glanced up at the Uchiha, eyes pleading as they filled with moisture. "I'm hungry."

"I don't do much cooking. Don't expect anything fancy." Sasuke muttered, blinking at the display, confused as he silently turned toward the kitchen, Alex cuddling against him once again.

At least he knew where that particular room was and didn't need directions. Despite the deficiencies in his overall health, the Uchiha's eyesight seemed to have gone unscathed and the elder brunette had no problem seeing in the dark as he walked silently to their destination. When they came to the kitchen, he left the light off as he headed for the fridge, the illumination unnecessary since he could clearly see the interior of the room.

Yawning again, Sasuke tried to set Brian on the floor only to have the child wrap his small arms around the teenager's neck and his legs around Sasuke's chest. The six year old clung tightly, silently protesting the action, burying his head in the Uchiha's neck and Sasuke felt wetness coat his skin.

Dealing with distressed children was still new to Sasuke and the elder brunette warred with himself about the appropriate action to take. He could capitulate (the very idea made what remained of his Uchiha pride immediately bristle) and let the child stay, there by risking setting a new precedent, or he could be firm and set Brian down regardless of the waterworks. Standing there, waffling between the two options, Sasuke hesitantly rubbed Brian's back until the child calmed. Right then, the Uchiha would have rather faced a hundred enemy ninja unarmed than deal with a crying six year old. He supposed it was a blessing that Alex wasn't up as well.

"I need both hands to cook." Sasuke said reasonably, trying to keep his voice light. He was tired though, and it made him impatient with the troubled child. He could feel his frustration as it was translated into stress, the tension tightening the muscles in his shoulders and back, flowing down his body and making his left side ache. Shifting Brian's weight to his right arm, Sasuke tried flexing his left hand, watching the muscles twitch beneath his skin, his fingers dancing in a spasmodic rhythm he could not stop. Idly, Sasuke wondered if the seizure-like activity would ever go away.

"I want a bottle." Brian sniffled, leaning back to look at the elder brunette, one small fist tightly tangled in Sasuke's shirt, the other rubbing vigorously at one eye. "Please. I can help you make one."

The Uchiha managed to keep from frowning but his eye brows did knit together. Brian was six. Six year olds weren't supposed to still have bottles, were they? Infants were bottle fed…

_Just give him one, teme._ Naruto told him and Sasuke felt a phantom hand ruffle his hair. _He's looking for something that the bottle is a representation for._

_A representation for? _Sasuke asked, half turning before he caught himself. _What would a bottle represe-_

_Just… let him have one._ Naruto interrupted, though not unkindly. There was something in the blonde's voice, an understanding of some concept that made Naruto sound both older and younger at the same time. It opened a gap between them, a divide that Sasuke felt acutely but did not know how to cross, driving home the sad fact that they had a lot of catching up to do before they even had a hope of taking their relationship any further. They had only been separated for, what, four or five years but that could be a life time in the ninja world. So much had happened to Sasuke since he left Konoha and he knew that he was no longer the same person as when he left. Naruto must have had his own life altering experiences… What if they had grown so far apart that…? Sasuke shut the thought out before it could fully form.

Under Brian's direction, Sasuke silently prepped a bottle for the child and warmed it in the microwave, testing it on the skin of his inner arm before deeming it suitable for consumption. He handed the bottle to Brian without comment and, as the youngster curled against his chest suckling, left the kitchen, heading down the hall without any particular destination in mind.

Years of being in Sound had taken their toll on Sasuke and, tired or not, yawning all the while, he systematically patrolled the house's lower level checking each entryway to insure that they were locked. Satisfied that everyone inside was safe from intrusion, he turned his attention to the interior doors, habitually pausing outside each one he encountered, reaching out with his senses to inspect the area behind each portal before moving on.

The house was so quiet, so normal, so very _different _from what Sasuke had been exposed too for the last several years, that it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and the space between his shoulder blades tighten painfully as he cradled Brian more protectively against his chest. Paranoia had kept the Uchiha alive on more than one occasion while in Orochimaru's care since the snake sannin liked to set up 'surprises' he claimed were designed to keep Sasuke's instincts sharp. Thanks to these, the teenager had learned early that silence was not always a good thing. Safety, peace; these were fragile and fleeting things, little more than convenient camouflage until enough discontent was spread.

While he had been in Sound, the one thought that had carried Sasuke through was that Naruto was safe in Konoha, protected by everyone who loved the blonde. The Uchiha had relied on this idea to keep himself sane when Orochimaru had touched him, eyes full of lust as he traced the well defined outlines of the teenager's muscles. Naruto was safe so Sasuke had to continue to do his part, silently keeping an eye on Orochimaru, enduring the man's twisted methods of training and loyalty testing. Some days the Uchiha had simply wanted to scream, to just scream and never stop, because some of the things he had witnessed were simply that horrific. The cruel games that had been par for the course in Sound had threatened to drive him over that fine edge of sanity, to make him give into the rage and anger that boiled constantly in the back of his mind. Though he never wanted to admit it, it was at those times that he would wish that he had remained in Konoha with Naruto, that Sasuke had not allowed himself to be seduced by the power the snake sannin promised.

Sasuke had tolerated it all, biding his time and feigning subservience while learning everything he could from the elder shinobi until the sannin was of no more use. He had risen in ranks, gaining Orochimaru's confidence, until he was finally free to come and go as he pleased from the village without suspicion. Once he was through with Orochimaru, Sasuke had planned to permanently remove the threat the sannin represented to Konoha and leave quietly, preferably without alerting the base as to their leader's demise. When news of Orochimaru's demise got out, the ensuing battle for dominance would be a bloodbath of proportions not seen since the last great ninja war.

When Kabuto had so casually mentioned Akatsuki's capture of Naruto, though, Sasuke had been forced to put his plans into motion sooner than expected.

Wearily, Sasuke moved down the hall, checking the rooms beyond the doors he encountered, absently rubbing Brian's back as the boy cuddled against him and fell asleep, still clutching the bottle. Being so tired was messing with his senses but he forced himself to focus when he found Aiko's room, extended chakra until it ghosted over the infant in a light caress. After confirming a heart beat and her even breathing he moved on, unwilling to risk opening the door and accidentally waking the baby.

_God! How big is this place?! It's a freaking maze!_ Naruto ranted in the back of Sasuke's head, making the Uchiha smile tiredly as he turned another corner. Checking the nearest door, the brunette almost sagged with relief as he turned the knob, entered the room and carefully crossed the toy-strewn floor to stand between the pair of child-sized beds. After a few minutes hesitation, Sasuke finally placed the snoozing brunette in his arms beside Alex's curled form, taking the bottle away gently and placing it on the bedside table before tucking the bed's small comforter around the pair, watching with mild amusement as Brian used his brother as a teddy bear. When he was satisfied that both had been tucked in securely, Sasuke left the room, leaving the door open a crack as he closed it behind him.

_Just a little further, teme._ Naruto urged him gently as the Uchiha leaned against the wall and yawned quietly. Sasuke was so tired he could barely see straight, his excellent night vision blurry and useless as he forced his legs to carry him forward despite their reluctance to do so. Naruto continued to murmur encouragement to him all down the hall but when they finally came to the staircase, Sasuke balked, eying the distance to the second floor as if it had suddenly become a mountain.

…_You know, maybe we should see if there's a couch down here somewhere._ Naruto said and Sasuke nodded, already turning around. His left side suddenly throbbed painfully and he barely suppressed the groan that welled up, focusing on moving forward in the direction he had just come while using the nearest wall as a guide, ignoring the frames pictures he bumped along the way. He didn't bother to straighten the now tilted pictures- so long as they didn't fall and wake the house, Sasuke wasn't going to waste his precious energy doing the housekeeper's job.

The Uchiha's hand landed on a doorknob and he turned it, revealing a cozy living room complete with a high backed couch that seemed to call to Sasuke. His legs were moving even before he was consciously aware of it, carrying him over to the pale brown piece of furniture. He sank into the soft overstuffed fabric with a low groan that quickly turned into a sigh as he gratefully laid down on his right side, sprawling out over the upholstery like a very large cat.

_Naruto?_ Struggling to stay awake, Sasuke realized that he hadn't heard from the blonde for a while. There was no immediate answer and panic pierced through him like a blade, prompting Sasuke to lever himself up into a sitting position. _Naruto?_

_I'm here, teme._ The spirit's voice was like a drug despite the preoccupied tone and the Uchiha's heart calmed immediately. _Just thinking. Sorry for spacing out._

"No problem." The brunette said aloud, around a yawn. Sasuke's eyelids were heavy but he kept struggling to keep them open, wanting very much to spend some quality time with Naruto now that they were alone. _What were you thinking about?_

_Nothing important._ But Sasuke could feel the blonde's presence, could feel the vague worry through the preoccupation and it troubled the Uchiha that Naruto was distressed over something but would not share.

A mixed sense of betrayal and rejection bubbled up in response as deep seated insecurities stirred. Part of him had feared this, had feared that things were too good to be true, that Naruto would never accept him and that Sasuke had been fooling himself all this time. The Uchiha couldn't really blame the blonde for playing into his fantasy but, still, the idea hurt deeply all the same. It made him feel used in a way that went beyond words and added weight to the dark thought deep inside him, the one Sasuke was too afraid to admit existed, even to himself. Its presence overshadowed the few good things in his life, the one born when Itachi had given up his pretense of being a caring older brother and slaughtered the clan.

Sasuke suddenly wanted -needed- a hug and he cursed himself for it as he lay back down and rubbed at his burning eyes. He was an adult now and that had all happened a long time ago- he should have some fucking emotional control by now, God damn it! What the hell was wrong with him? Sasuke tried to shove all the turmoil aside back down into the pit he usually backed it into but he couldn't fully rid himself of the frustration and anger boiling inside him now that it had been ignited. His grabbed fistfuls of his hair and buried his face in the cushion beneath it.

So what if Naruto was only using him?

So what if the only other person he had ever loved had betrayed him just like the first?

So what if he…if he really wasn't worth… loving?

To his humiliation, he felt his breath hitch and tears trail down his cheeks. He wanted to scream, to scream until he was empty of all the hurt and betrayal but he knew that there wasn't enough breath in his body for that. He could sense Naruto stirring in the back of his head and Sasuke, feeling emotionally raw and exhausted, decided that all he wanted in that moment was some privacy. Swallowing back a sudden rush of rage directed at his friend, the Uchiha wished the blonde a curt good-night and slammed a mental barrier between them, imagining walls upon walls separating them in his mind. Turning his head so that he could breathe, Sasuke used the hem of his sleep shirt to wipe his eyes and his nose, sniffling quietly until an uneasy sleep finally claimed him.

* * *

Naruto wanted out. He was a spirit- he didn't need to sleep, didn't need to eat, didn't need to worry about any of those things anymore- and could literally just sit forever if need be. Naruto was used to being active though and old habits die hard; he was restless, brimming with energy that he needed to burn and he craved some sort of activity to occupy himself with.

Kyuubi was sleeping, curled up in a tight ball while it's chakra leaked out around it in thin streams to mingle with Sasuke's, the red energy nearly disappearing in the almost black color. It reminded Naruto of an oil slick and the comparison made him feel vaguely ill as he watched. By mixing their chakras together, the fox could heal Sasuke's remaining injuries without the danger of causing more, the outcome if Kyuubi simply poured its chakra directly into the Uchiha for a prolonged period. Though he knew it was for everyone's benefit, Naruto didn't exactly like the process since it rendered his friend practically comatose.

The inside of Sasuke's head was not a friendly place and trying to navigate through it was like trying to step through a field of burning explosive tags- escaping unscathed was simply not an option no matter what tricks you employed. He wanted Sasuke healthy, he really did, but when the Uchiha slept some of the mental barriers that made up the interior of Sasuke's mind weakened, allowing the memories contained behind them to slip out. Naruto likened them to predatory beasts waiting for an opportunity to sink their claws into Sasuke's sleeping consciousness and tear him slowly apart from the inside. When Naruto had finally figured out a way to secretly invade his friend's dreams without Kyuubi knowing, he had had to fight some of those beasts, those monsters, and it had been incredibly… disturbing experience. Naruto had gotten dragged into some of those memories, had been forced to bear witness to the darker parts of the Uchiha's life, and it was not something he enjoyed even if it did allow him to understand Sasuke better. Listening to the battle already raging behind the mental divider Sasuke had erected, unable to do anything to stop whatever nightmare was happening, Naruto was almost frantic about finding a means of escape.

The only thing worse than having to sit through some of the things Sasuke had witnessed were the nightmares borne from them. Naruto usually had to fight his way through some truly awful ones in order to get to Sasuke. Who would have thought that the always proper, stick-up-his-ass Uchiha had such a fertile imagination?! Warped and mutated, piling one on top of another to create who knew what…! They were chimera-like creations, always different, always evolving, and Naruto was loosing the battle when it came to keeping them at bay internally. Naruto had tried screaming and yelling, kicking and punching at the monstrous dreams, dutifully trying to defend Sasuke, but Naruto soon stopped when he realized that he was only feeding the nightmare. He needed a way to wake Sasuke up but with no way to communicate with either the outside world or his friend thanks to the damn wall between them, Naruto's options were rather limited.

Physical stimulation was needed, he finally decided, a good shake that would wake Sasuke up at least enough to dispel the nightmare. To make that happen though, he would have to get out of here and, as the hours wore by, Naruto was finally struck by a way to do it. Kyuubi could assume temporary control of Sasuke's body so what was to prevent Naruto from doing the same? Excited by his stroke of brilliance, the blonde spirit concentrated, imagining his chakra filling the Uchiha's body, slowly feeling the subtle shifting as his spirit successfully usurped and suppressed Sasuke's. Doing so made the brunette's consciousness an easier target for nightmares but Naruto assuaged his guilt by reminding himself that it was only temporary, that in a few seconds he'd be able to fix the issue.

There was a thin layer of Kyuubi and Sasuke's mingled chakra preventing him from fully possessing his friend. It was thicker than he expected and, as he forced his way through it, the mixture clung to his spirit, pulling his chakra into the mix and coating his soul in a fine sheen of it as he achieved his goal of assuming complete control of Sasuke's body. Naruto shrugged it off, figuring that the fox must feel something similar every time Kyuubi possessed the Uchiha's form.

Pale eyelids opened in the darkened room and, though he did manage to suppress his whoop of triumph, Naruto couldn't help the wide grin that suddenly twisted Sasuke's features. Now fully in charge, the blonde forced Sasuke's body to sit up and immediately began molding his chakra in preparation as he put his hands together in an all too familiar hand sign.

* * *

Hazy blue eyes opened beneath shaggy blonde hair. They blinked up at the white ceiling far above uncomprehendingly, before moving downward and taking in the metal railing on either side of the bed. Silently the blonde headed figure turned their head to study the room, gaze sweeping over the plain white décor apathetically. There were no pictures but one wall was predominantly made up of a large window and the nearly blinding sunshine flooding through was warm and comforting as it washed over the tanned skin of the hands resting above the sheets.

Sitting up, chapped lips turned down in a slight frown as the person lifted one hand up for examination, opening and closing the hand slowly as it was rotated left and right. Confusion set in as the duel feelings of familiarity and unfamiliarity warred, creating a marked sense of displacement as the blonde gingerly reached up to first touch a bandaged cheek, then an equally bandaged temple, absently adjusting the course cloth so it didn't itch. Heavily calloused fingers lightly traced the slope of a strong but rounded nose and the blue eyes watched the movement with something akin to trepidation. Before the emotion could fully form, though, it was snuffed out by curiosity as the door to the room slid open, the noise shortly followed by the unmistakable sound of glass hitting the floor.

"Naruto!" The speaker was young and female, her short pink hair flying as she suddenly charged the bed and flung herself upon the blonde. Slim arms wrapped around the blonde, squeezing painfully hard as the girl proceeded to burst into tears. It hurt and the blonde gasped as pain spiked, making the bed-ridden figure acutely aware that something was wrong with their body as tanned hands pushed at the girl's shoulders to get her off.

This wasn't right and the wrongness of the situation plagued the blonde, increasing the desire to put distance between them. They knew each other, this the blonde was sure of, but doubted their relationship was like this, was so informal, and again a war broke out inside the blonde as the idea was contested by contrasting sensations and vague impressions. It was disturbing and frightening, and this transmitted through the tensing of muscles, through more persistent shoving from the blonde.

The young woman finally took the hint and pulled back, teary-eyed but smiling as she sniffled and wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She hiccupped and the blonde stared, straining to understand as the oblivious girl rushed on. "Tsunade-sama didn't know if you were going to wake up and we've all been worried about you. Everyone's been visiting you as much as possible but… You're okay now!"

She spoke rapidly between sobs, garbling most of what she was trying to say, and the blonde ultimately gave up halfway through the speech, opting to sit up and wait for the woman to wind down. The tears were back full force and she looked ready to pounce again but the blonde put a hand out to ward her off, still aching from the first time. When she remained where she was, the hand moved to the blonde's head, rubbing at the bandage covered temple in an effort to ease the pounding headache forming right behind the pair of blue eyes.

"Sakura-san?" A voice called from the hallway, making the pink haired teenager glance over her shoulder at the open doorway just as a brunette stepped into the room. "Tsunade-hime needs you…"

"Shizune-san…" The girl, Sakura, said her excitement visibly ebbing away as she stared at the bed's occupant with an expression of dawning dismay.

The new person was also female but older, dressed more conservatively in clothing almost as dark as her short hair that did nothing to highlight her feminine features. She was also holding a small pig, the well fed animal dressed in a red vest-like coat and wearing a string of pearls. The pig's head swung in the direction of the bed, nose twitching, and suddenly the animal was squealing and wriggling for freedom, bounding for the bed once it hit the floor.

"Naruto…!" And the naked relief in the new woman's, Shizune, voice made the blonde uncomfortable. "Tonton, wait!" The brunette said, trying to recapture the animal, but it was too late and the pig was on the bed, oinking happily as its curly tail wagged furiously, soft round wet nose buried in the blonde's neck as its small hoof-like feet dug into the aching chest.

Ignoring the pig, the blonde's headache worsened considerably as blue eyes looked downward, eyebrows knitting together as tanned fingers pulled the plain white hospital pajama top away to reveal more bandages crisscrossing the flat ribcage. The sight rang both true and false, both correct and yet wrong, as if some unknown feature was missing. The blonde frowned, confused, and gaze drifting further south through the gap to land on the lap beyond.

Male. The blonde's gender was male, but even though he could sense this physically, it was a foreign realization, strange and hard for the figure to completely wrap their mind around.

"Do you know your name?" Sakura asked, approaching the bed cautiously and sitting down by his feet, prompting him to releasing his shirt and look at her. Several moments of silence went by as Sakura's eyes pleaded with his to answer in an affirmative but he merely shook his head at her.

"I'll go get Tsunade-hime." Shizune said, her heels clicking against the hallway tiles as she ran. Tonton jumped off the bed and ran after her.

"It's Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura said and though her voice was soft, it trembled as tears pooled in her green eyes. "You're Uzumaki Naruto! Don't you remember? Your name is Naruto Uzumaki!"

The name meant nothing to the blonde, nothing at all, and he could offer no comfort to the girl as she put her head in her hands and began to cry anew.

* * *

With the exception of Sundays, and maybe the occasional Saturday, mornings were a busy time in the Pryderi household. Schedules to hold to, appointments to keep, errands to run, all the while trying to get everyone fed, dressed, and out the door on time with as minimal hassle as possible- no small feat with two small children and an infant even with the help of the other adults. Hikaru Uchiha was a busy lawyer with quite the reputation for being calculating and ruthless in the corporate world. Andrew Pryderi worked with his aunt as an administrator and was also the public face of the hospital. Suki was one of the most sought after actresses in the movie industry and held to punctuality like the word of God, expecting it from herself when she was working and from everyone else. Neji, her bodyguard, was the same and the pair kept all manner of hours during filming. Frank Hunt, former military man, was their security expert both at home and in the hospital, always on call, day or night. Mornings were busy, plain and simple.

The Monday before a major holiday and the word 'busy' took on a whole new meaning but, somehow, having the day start with the phone blaring in your ear made it all that much worse. Having your aunt screaming at you to get down to the hospital immediately did not make things better.

"Aunt Mary, no, Mary slow down!" Andrew tried to make sense of his aunt's mile-a-minute tirade but he sincerely wondered if she had ruptured his eardrum with all the screaming. Pulling his cell phone away from his ear, he looked at his alarm clock blurrily, having to stare for several minutes until the numbers finally made sense. Then he returned his attention to the cell phone in his hand and shouted. "It's five thirty! Mary, what the hell is your problem?!"

There was silence and the blonde male cautiously pressed the phone to his ear again, ready to pull it away in a flash since Mary wasn't above such tactics. When her voice returned, the note of smugness in it made a chill run down his spine. She spoke, Andrew listened, and seconds after he hung up he was out of bed and knocking on Frank's door to wake him up, too.

It was going to be a _very _long day.

Sasuke's parents had shown up to claim their son.

* * *

**More's Moment:**

And there we have it! Another chapter as promised, again, sorry for the delay. Before everyone starts pointing fingers at Sasuke's sudden emotional 180 on the couch, keep in mind that Sasuke is emotionally damaged in this fic.

If you are one of the unfortunate few who has ever been ripped apart by someone you trusted unconditionally, someone you loved- romantically or otherwise- then you know that that is not a pain you ever want to go through twice. You harden yourself against it, insulating yourself from other people, always holding back from completely connecting less they suddenly turn on you.

For some people, once is enough to enforce this behavior. For others, it isn't, and we keep trying to connect with other people, willing to let a lot slide because we want to feel needed and wanted. It destroys you a little each time things go to hell because essentially you have to rebuild yourself over and over again. When this happens you leave some pieces out, hoping that this time will be the last time, becoming more while simultaneously becoming less.

The thing is that, no matter how much you carve away or how much emotional armor you wear, some part of you always remembers what it felt like when that loved one tore your heart out and left you emotionally devastated. It remembers and it knows that it's only a matter of time before it happens again, despite all your preparations. Eventually someone gets in and the piece of you that remembers can do nothing but wait and wonder how much damage this time will cause.

Or not. Whatever. Sorry for the emo philosophy moment.

Happy tales all! If you liked it, let me know by reviewing!


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